How is it MARCH 2017 already?!

OF COURSE all my blogging plans went out the window during exam week and then again during the rest of Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany! Here I go again, starting up after the hiatus. :-)

Photo by Caroline Carson, November, 2016

Exams - difficult, but we made it through and my first semester of seminary is in the books!
Advent & Christmas in NOLA - FANTASTIC! I conducted a NOLA Civic Symphony concert, saw tons of friends, sang at St. Paul's, Christ Church Cathedral, and Immaculate Conception Jesuit Church. 
Travel - Choral performance tour with Larry Wyatt & COLA VOCE to Israel. From there, I used airline miles and hotel points to explore Egypt.
Spring semester - It's started well and while only one paper has been turned in, it's about to get CRAZY with something big due each week from now til the end of the spring. 
OTHER - It's Lent so I'll be writing about my personal disciplines in the next few days.

#AdventWord 2016 Participation!

Hey y'all! I'm going to be participating in #AdventWord again daily this year on FB, Twitter, and Instagram for myself, for St. Paul's Episcopal NOLA, and I'll also be helping w/ Sewanee Seminary's posts, Yay! Expect photos, music, prayer, poetry, etc. in the posts. You are welcomed follow at any of the accounts listed below AND you too can participate: by praying, reading, pondering and/or by doing! Here's the list of words and the website is below that. Remember to include the following tag: #AdventWord and you might want to add your own. I always try add #Episcopal #Advent and #SSJE
Accounts:
-My Twitter & Instagram: @Conductor222
-My blog: theparsoncarson.blogspot.com
-St. Paul's Episcopal Twitter & IG = @stpaulsnola
-St. Paul's Facebook: St. Paul's Episcopal Church in New Orleans
-Sewanee's twitter: @SewaneeSeminary and the FB page is School of Theology at The University of the South (feel free to like that page!)
Things like this help me enjoy the expectancy and radiance of the meaningful Advent season. These posts help center my thoughts and focus. They help me to find depth in words and contemplation. Working on them daily is also a challenge I love to accept. :-)
I hope you will enjoy these posts and find something that resonates with you!
#Episcopal #SSJE #Anglican #Advent
WEBSITE
http://adventword.org/

Transitions

Delayed post (from July 28)...
I'm in South Carolina for one of my regular visits of seeing my Mom for a few days and seeing one of my best friends (Sara) for a few days. Yesterday, I went with Sara to her church, Lake Murray Presbyterian, where she was to practice her organ music for a funeral. I've come here once or twice year for something like twelve years, always listening to organ practice, admiring the grounds, and singing in the choir on the Sundays after Christmas. It is a very welcoming church. Sara's last Sunday as organist here is August 7th. 

Photo by Caroline Carson

Coincidentally, MY last Sunday at St. Paul's Episcopal Church is also August 7th! 
Even more coincidence: we are having the SAME organ music played on that day, the only difference being that Sara is playing hers and I'm listening to mine! :-)
After listening a bit yesterday, I went into the fellowship hall to sit down and call the Sewanee School of Theology 

Student Account Services, and see about how to pay my bill for the semester. After numerous problems (on my end) and some excellent help from the Computer HelpDesk office, it was determined that I'm all set and my tuition is paid. That's done (YAY!) and while I'll need to understand how everything works later on, it was a great relief! Then, I logged into the self-service system that shows you classes, registration eligibility, etc. and wow! - it seems that I am already registered for Fall classes. I'll post that in a separate post soon.
I even got the orientation schedule, via the Facebook group for our class!
This is COMPLETELY FABULOUS!

Photo by Caroline Carson

Then, suddenly, it hit me - I'm moving in 13 days! 
It has finally become real. 
I am entering the next step toward ordination in The Episcopal Church! I've left one job, am about to leave another, and will be living on a mountain - "The Holy Mountain". I will be a student again. 
I will see the God I know in different ways.
I will experience God in new ways.
I will need God in different ways. 
I will learn about myself and others in this amazing process!
I will all upon friends in new ways, and will be crossing the threshold into new levels of trust.

Photo by Caroline Carson

I've always been one to "Go boldly" and have enjoyed experiencing adventures and even risks when they come in the form of travels, new friends, and things like cooking. This, however, is a whole new and different kind of risky. I'm stepping out of my comfort zone - even more than usual. 
- I've watched as people passed from this life to the next...
- Hiked a glacier....
- Fallen off of horses while training them to be racehorses...
- I've stood with other religious leaders on the site of a huge bombing in Pakistan, only days after the terror, hoping and praying for peace and that we would not be targets and news items. As the only American and one a very few women there, I was indeed nervous, yet mostly unafraid.
- I went for and earned a doctorate.
- I've eaten pickles (ewww), killed spiders, and given people bad news

So, why is this transition so intense? Well, I suppose it's not simply a powerful moment, an hour, an event. This is a life direction, something to embrace....in a lot of ways, it's a new life, living and working consciously under a different authority. 
I'm going to stay me, but I'll be transformed. 
That often takes time, perseverance, dedication, and trust in the very opposite of stability.....it involves trust in risk and change. It's also a different time in my life......and life is SHORT. You never know what the next second will bring!

I've taught music for about twenty years...that's not too shabby! It feels great that I've done my best and will maintain great relationships with my colleagues. I'll also keep singing regularly and directing occasionally. Still, I cannot help but pursue now what I have felt and do feel called to do in the church. It is high time to live into this journey!

Photo by Caroline Carson

In spite of this summer's tumultuous and emotional happenings (hysterectomy, trying to pack without lifting anything (recovery restrictions!), saying goodbye, excitement about my future at Sewanee), etc., I feel at peace with it all. It feels right and good!
More soon....I've got to go pack some more! :-)

Bluebell surveys the pile of boxes!

THE WHISKEYPALIAN

Good evening internets,
Welcome to The Adventures of a Whiskeypalian!
Welcome to the new name of my blog.
But wait, what is a whiskeypalian, you ask? (It's also spelled whiskypalian and whiskapalian....heck, even whiskopalian! For those who like spelling debates, check it out here - Whisky or Whiskey or even see it here in a Grammarist post!)

"Where you find four Episcopalians, you're sure to find a fifth..."

Fine, fine.....a whiskeypalian?
It's a term, said among some Episcopalians themselves, used rather humorously to refer to the fact that many Episcopalians don't shy away from having a drink (or two or three) every now and then. It holds that our denomination doesn't prohibit the consumption of alcohol among its members or clergy, within reasonable limits and consequences. Here's a "Christianease" definition. In fact, similar to groups of choir directors at conventions, groups of X, Y, or Z, I'd venture to say that terms like it apply to a fair amount of folks. I've heard it all my life and while it might upset some, it doesn't upset me. In fact, I love it! 
I am a whiskeypalian! I chose the version of spelling that contains the "e" so I can say it is for Episcopalian :-)
Oooooooh.....consider this: whiskey in your coffee! 
(YESSSSSS! Irish coffee)

It makes me love Episcopalianism even more. We can laugh at ourselves when being teased! Here's a great post "Ten Reasons to be a Whiskeypalian" by The Observer in Texas at the blog "Observations from the Side Aisle"
While I'm actually more of a coffeepalian, I definitely enjoy a good whiskey sour or Jamison on the rocks every now and then. I've been thinking quite a bit the past two years about the benefits of my "coffee with God" times and realized that I also genuinely like to write, however unrefined my skills. My blog posts are full of ponderings as well as puns. I crave a kaleidoscope of posts, tossing about in a sea of photos. Somehow, this translated into wanting to change my blog name. 

It may or may not have popped out of my mouth over an actual glass of whiskey...

I originally used Carsonia as "Caroline of Carsonia", but have always had some issues with Carson, Iowa and results. I've never been there, but I should, seeing as how we have that connection. I did figure out how out to preserve my old blog so Carsonia is still alive. It gets tons of hits on old posts. Who am I to stop that from happening? ;-)
So anyway, I'm giving this new name a try: 

"The Adventures of a Whiskeypalian"
I rather like it. Here I shall place the typical Caroline-ramblings, some serious thoughts, VSG life, puns, space jokes, Episcopal prayers, discernment thoughts, and ever so much more. Beware, YOU might want a whiskey after reading! As for me, CHEERS y'all :-)

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!