Failing to Write
The bottom line, though, is that I failed at this assignment.
Alissa Goudswaard Anderson (’10) lives with her husband Josh in New York City, where she is earning her Master of Divinity at General Theological Seminary. Alissa enjoys private kitchen dance parties, big Midwestern thunderstorms, and perusing other peoples’ bookshelves. For more, find her online at www.episcotheque.wordpress.com or tweet her @episcotheque.
A Love Letter to my English Major
I wonder, sometimes, if you feel forgotten. After all, I did not become an English professor, as I once thought I might.
How Have You Been Praying about This?
When I hear someone say they don’t really pray, or that prayer is boring—both lines I have used—my first instinct is to question how they pray.
Spring Cleaning
I would even go so far as to say that tidying, a good spring cleaning that freshens any staleness that has settled in over a long winter, can be a spiritual practice.
Butt Dust
…while remembering that we are dust is meant to be striking and a bit uncomfortable, I’m confident that no one wants to remember being “butt dust.”
All This Happened, More or Less: a Travelogue
I went to Denmark. For my first trip to Scandinavia. In January.
Achievable New Year’s Resolutions
Drink water. Preferably every day. Make your bed…at least once a week.
A Definitive Ranking of the Cinedigm 10 Movie Family & Romance Holiday Collection DVD Set
I have used my extensive knowledge of the genre to rank them in order based on the covers and (occasionally) cover copy.
Happy (Belated) Half-Birthday to Me
I will be at church at midnight on Christmas, because that’s my job now. I’ve surrounded myself with tradition and ritual, and I feel right at home.
The Better Story
It is up to the reader to decide which story is true—or if not to determine truth, at least to decide which is the story they will believe.
How to Compose a Sermon in 10 Super Simple Steps
1. Look up the passages you’ll be preaching on and read them.
A Bit of Light Reading
Do you suffer from English Major Guilt? While I am in recovery, this pernicious disease will still raise its head from time to time.
Training Collar
People know that collar = priest. Seeing a twenty-something woman in a collar is something of an anomaly.
I Watched Christian Mingle The Movie So You Don’t Have To
I think Jesus would watch Christian Mingle The Movie with me, and would snort and groan and make snarky commentary in all the right places.
I Joined Online Dating…And I Met Someone and Now We’re Married
I know several people who met online and then made up a meet cute to tell friends and family. There’s less of a stigma around meeting online today, but it’s still not considered especially romantic.
Excuses, Excuses
I got the syllabus, and I saw something new: forty percent of my final grade in the class is “social media impact.”
Girls in bikinis, boys doin’ the twist
There was definitely no dancing, underage drinking, etc. And the truth is, even if the setting was different, I’m more Rory and Paris than Madeleine and Louise. Pizza and The Power of Myth sounds way better than staying out late dancing and drinking… or whatever it is people do on spring break.
How to Shop for Groceries in New York, Or, First World Problems
You do not get anything frozen, because your refrigerator sits under your counter, and the “freezer” area of it does not actually freeze anything.
Treating the Common Cold
Yup, definitely melting my brain. Totally worth it, though—and my cold is almost gone! It’s like they say: television really is the best medicine.
Ode to Advent
“I think Advent is my favorite season, but by the time I’ve finished all of the work and grading, Christmas is here and I never really got to enjoy it.”
You Can Take the Girl Out of the Midwest, But…
Somehow, though, moving to a place like NYC made me realize, perhaps for the first time, just how much there is to love about Middle America.
Death Comes to the Umbrella
Before New York, having an umbrella blow inside out was a fluke, something astonishing that might happen in really bad weather. Mainly something that happened in cartoons or Mary Poppins.
On beginning. Again.
Even though I said last semester that I was going to cut all my extracurriculars to make time for some of my own projects, I didn’t actually manage to quit anything
Homesick
I think that is because our true home is with God, and we will never feel completely at home until we are with God. This is “heaven” to me—the ultimate homecoming.
Beyond Words
Part of the problem for me, I realized, was that I don’t listen for God’s voice verbally. I don’t expect to have a conversation with God in this way.
A Beautiful Mess
No human is purely hero or purely villain, and I think most of us would agree that the very best stories reflect this complexity, this beautiful mess.
Outside Looking In
I think what fascinates me about windows is the same thing that’s always drawn me to books—all the stories and worlds that are playing out in addition to my own.
Easter Joy
The whole idea of resurrection is something of a mossy mystery—thinking about what it means for the Christian faith and, especially, what it means for how we live today.
For Whom the Chimes Toll
The one group I did join pretty quickly was the Guild of Chimers, which is possibly the lowest-commitment group on campus.
Tonight, on “Murder, She Wrote”
I’m three days into the semester, and I’m dreading the day my academic load catches up with me and I can’t sit down and enjoy some crime at the end of the day.
