Leitourgeia kai Qurbana: Contra den Zeitgeist

2007, for many reasons, was a really difficult year. 2006 was also largely problematic. 2005 and 2004 were all mixed bags. Really, in general, Bloomington has been a difficult place for me to, well, “grok,” I suppose.

At the new year, somebody who knew what a hard year 2007 was and why came up to me and said, “2006 was one of the worst years of my life. 2007 turned out to be one of the best years of my life. Maybe that’ll happen for you in 2008.”

Well, the first three months of 2008 have, bluntly, sucked. Bad news right and left with the bits of good news here and there not enough to overcome the bad, certain situations deteriorating rapidly with me absolutely helpless to do anything about them, and being left overall with a sense of being just stuck until further notice. Some of the issues I have discussed here; some of them I have not, for good reason, and most of those will remain undiscussed in this setting.

March ended with a couple of things going well but with another set of circumstances absolutely exploding in my face; April has begun with that set of circumstances having unexpectedly and quickly resolved itself, and my hope is that this bodes well. What I can say is that starting 21 April, I will be moving into a different position that, while still in the support staff hierarchy, is much closer to my areas of interest, and could very possibly be a place where I might actually accomplish something of value. It is also not lost on me that the end of this month is Pascha. So, the second three months of 2008 are revving up with a fresh start on the docket; even if it wasn’t quite the move I was hoping for (i.e., grad school), I’ll take it, and hope I can make the most of it.

What I will also say is that this move came about so lightning quick, all the doors having opened simultaneously and instantaneously, that it can only be the hand of God throwing them wide. Sometime God opens the door He wants you to go through; sometimes He closes every door He doesn’t want you to go through; sometimes he does both.

I head up to Notre Dame this weekend for Dorushe; I hopefully will get some worthwhile pictures, and I look forward to the experience.