We are here and classes have started! So far we have had Latin, Art and Theology, and Science and Technology (taught by Dr. Patrick). Classes are going very well so far as we are not really into them far enough to be absorbed with assignments yet. Last night was the public lecture and it was given by Rev. Doug Hayman. By public lecture I don't mean that the lecture was out on the street corner or anything but it was in the basement of a nearby church and was open to anyone who wanted to attend. Rev. Hayman talked about believing in order to understand which was taken from a quote by St. Augustine. He used the last of Luke 2 and John 3:1-12 as texts. People seemed to get hung up on the John 3 passage in verse 5 where Jesus talks about being born on water and the Spirit. I didn't know this until afterwards, but everyone seemed to be trying to apply both the water-birth and the Spirit-birth to what has to happen to "enter the kingdom of God."

Rev. Hayman briefly mentions how babies are born with a breaking of the water and so we must also be born through the Holy Spirit. So, off goes my pregnant-mind thinking about how amazing physical birth is and replaying memories of births that I have been to where I have gotten to see the bag of waters break right there in the mother's opening and the baby's head slide so beautifully through after a brief gush of water. Then I start thinking about how cool it is that Christ used such an amazing picture to parallel what must happen to us when we are born of His Spirit. I am also, just now, realizing how feminine of a picture that is. I don't know if birth was regulated to "women's work" at that time, but Christ just took an image in which the pregnant female is a necessary part of and applied our spiritual rebirth to it. Hmmm... this will require further thought.
Anyway, this was the course of my thoughts last night and since I was so lost in my own head I was only occasionally tuning into the conversation around me. Apparently most everyone lost the illusion that Christ was making to a physical birth and began to discuss what role baptism had in our spiritual rebirth. I didn't realize this at the time or I would have spoken up and said "Hey! The water-birth is about our physical birth, Christ is saying, we must be physically born and then spiritually born in order to enter God's Kingdom." I, however, was completely tuned out. I didn't know people were seeking for a meaning for the water-birth part of that verse. This just goes to show how being pregnant is wonderful, but distracting and often keeps me from being fully aware of everything around me. Oh well, perhaps I will bring it up again in our Scriptures class on Thursday.

Meanwhile, I will begin a search on what Christ says about our spritual rebirth and how that very feminine image fits in with it all.