You can always count on the Quaker

A classmate of mine is not only a friend, but also a Friend. That is, Tom is a Quaker (often called the Society of Friends). He works in the field of youth sexuality and directs a national program focusing on Teen pregnancy prevention. From my years in youth ministry (and as a one-time teenager myself) I know this is difficult, often controversial, work. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to poke a little fun at him...afterall he is a friend.

 

Migwec,

Ehkosit!

The Doctoral Quest

 I was thinking further about the symbolism of the pursuit of the PhD and, because my son is going to a play based on the Hobbit for school, the idea of a quest. One of the greatest quest stories is the Lord of the Rings. I remember hearing Timothy Keller talk about Christianity as a quest rather than an adventure, in his words:

“The Hobbit is a children’s book. Then, comes the three books, the Trilogy, The Lord of the Rings. I was listening to a literary critic who knows these books who said the thing you’ve got to keep in mind is that The Hobbit is an Adventure, but the The Lord of the Rings is a Quest. The Hobbit is a book for children and it is more light-hearted. It is an Adventure and the way the literary critic defines adventure is that an Adventure is a ‘there and back again.’ It’s an exciting thing you choose. You go and you have your adventures and have all your thrills and it spices up your life and then you come home again and you pick your life again where you left off. An Adventure is there and back again.

But a Quest is not something you choose, it comes to you. You sense a requirement. You’re called to it because of what’s involved. And you never really come back from a Quest. In a Quest you either die for the Quest or if you do come back you are so changed that you never in a sense really do come back. You’re never the way you were. You changed radically. I want you to know that Christianity is not an Adventure. It is not there and back again. It’s not like I want to have some fun, I want to enrich my life. Christianity is a Quest. God says Get Out … you’re going to be radically changed. Don’t ask Me whether what I am about to do will fit into your agenda. Christianity is a whole new agenda. Don’t say how will Christianity will fit into my life because Christianity is a whole New Life.”

In many ways the PhD fits the literary definition of a quest as put out by Keller. As I thought about that I realized my greatest fear is that the character I resemble is Gollum and his soul-consuming pursuit of his ring (read: doctorate). That which he views as precious is slowly killing him - or at least robbing his humanity. 

I started the journey a family man that senses a requirement to join the quest:

 Quests are not easy nor fun. The cost you and they change you:

 At this point I don't know the outcome - I will either be dead or changed:

Migwec,
Ehkosit!

Quantitative Research

One of the differences between many European and North American doctoral programs is the need to take a suite of courses - some of which may be outside of your research focus. By training and experience I am a qualitative researcher - my work in linguistics and anthropology have focused on communities and interviews. This semester I am being stretched/challenged by taking a required course in quantitative research methodology. I know it will make me a more rounded researcher, but it is a struggle in places.

If nothing else it has inspired a couple of pictures - one that features SPSS (the software we are using) as onomatopoeia and the other chronicling my transition into a Tolkienian gollum ....

Migwec,
Ehkosit!