RevGalBlogPal Profile

(Whoops! I authored this for last week -- but time slipped by! I apologize.)

Emily of Hazelnut Reflections

I'm a native Chicagoan, Episcopal priest, married to another Episcopal priest, voted in junior high as the person most likely to have her nose in a book. Currently living in Oklahoma City and working as an Interim Rector in the OKC metro area.
Why do you blog?
Some friends of mine were blogging, and I saw it as an opportunity to put some thoughts of mine about faith out on the web. I keep blogging now because of the community I'vediscovered.

What has been your best blogging experience?
Being able meet in person those who I have only known though blogging. It really helped ease the pain of moving to know I had blogfriends in my new state.


What would be your main advice to a novice blogger?
1) Think about how much you want to put yourself out there before you set up your blog. Blogging psedonymously, anonymously, or vaguely publicly does affect what you're going to put in your blog.
2) Get to know other bloggers by reading and commenting. If you're just posting and expecting others to come by and read your fabulous prose, you're missing out the possibilities for building community online.


If you only had time to read three blogs a day, what
would they be (not RevGal blogs, please)?
the one and only Yarn Harlot
The Panopticon (another outrageously funny knitting blog)
Thinking Anglicans


Who are your spiritual heroes?
Julian of Norwich, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Hildegard of Bingen, Martin Luther King, Jr., Thomas Cranmer


What are you reading at the moment?
A book about the history of Color. As in paint/fiber colors, not as in race.
Various commentaries on Exodus.
my NCAA brackets


What is your favorite hymn and why?
I put them all in my ordination service:
St. Patrick's breastplate ("I bind unto myself this day. . ." (I know it's too long, but it has such associations for me with dear ones' ordinations, and I love the Trinitarian imagery)
Tora Ora--a Hebrew song about Scripture that's in the Episcopal hymnal. I have recent Jewish ancestors on one side of the family tree, and this makes me feel connected to them.
Veni Sancte Spiritus--the Taize version
Let us Break Bread Together on our Knees--because for me, it is all about the gathering at the table

My faith is so tied up in the music of the church--all kinds--that I'm going to stop now.

What worldview do you think is most important to
combat?

The dehumanization of fellow human beings. Every culture defines "insiders" and "outsiders." Outsiders are always seen as something less than human, and therefore it's okay to exploit them. I think much of Jesus' ministry was aimed at getting rid of the boundaries between insiders and outsiders.

If you could affect one major change in the
governing of your country, what would it be?
Our seeming current inability to do what's best for the country, instead of what's best for a political base.

If you could affect one major policy change in your
denomination,
what would it be?
That we would stop being such lone rangers as congregations and clergy and work together to build the church.

What would be your most important piece of advice
about life?
Know yourself.

What, if anything, do you worry about?
What an Episcopal Church divided by schism would mean for us.

If you were to relive your life to this point, is
there anything that you'd do differently?
Realize sooner that I'm not perfect, and stop trying to hide it.


Where would you most like to live (other than where
you do now)?
Somewhere with snow.

What do you like doing in your spare time?
Read, knit, chat with friends.

What is your most treasured possession?
My wedding ring and my Seabury cross.