A Night of Settlers of Catan and Family Secrets

I'm not really sure what the title means. I played Settlers of Catan this evening with my friend Ken and his wife Kelly with my wife Jayme. Ken is a CPE supervisor and started this process about the same age I am now. We were in CPE together briefly in Houston back in 2001. Now he works with me at Seton here in Austin. When we still lived in Houston we also did theatre things together. We always seem to have fun.

The game itself is great but if you start off your first settlement in a less than desirable location, your screwed from the start. That was my night with the game. I had a lot of wood and a lot of sheep but couldn't do a thing with them. I got smoked. What I did learn though is life can be like that at times. If you start life in a bad place, it doesn't mean you can't succeed, but it sure makes it much tougher to succeed. Some of it is luck of the roll of the dice and some of it is being able to make the most of what you have. But, you can have all the strategy you want to succeed, but you still are settled in the worst possible location of life.

Thinking about this I became aware of how my own historical location and family secrets are both a hindrance to me and yet I also feel that I have done a great job of navigating my way thus far in this game we call life. I'm going to need all of this perserverance as I go forward.

Thanks for listening.

Move Over Julie Powell

Not too long ago, I was affirmed in my desire to become a CPE supervisor. For anyone interested enough to read this blog, you probably already know what that is. But, in the very off chance that someone else cares enough about this journey to read any of it, let me explain:

An ACPE supervisor is an educator. A theological educator in the practice of spiritual care. The accreditation is granted by the Association of Clinical Pastoral Education and the process, when completed, allows one to supervise students in ministry practice in a variety of settings, though the hospital setting is the predominant one. Students who complete the program may go into a variety of ministries from pastor, priest, rabbi, imam etc... to being a specialized minister like a chaplain. CPE is a complementary educational process to graduate theological education. It focuses more on the practice of ministry and inner processes within the spiritual care provider that impact that work. For those not very aware of how their own story impacts their work, this process of education can be both very helpful and very painful.

The process to become an ACPE supervisor is a difficult one, and it should be. At least that is what I think today. I'll let you know about the days I love it as well as the days I hate it.

This blog was birthed out of my watching of Julie and Julia last night and my second viewing this morning (I kept dozing off last night out of exhaustion). Julie Powell chronicled her journey through Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child and the inner struggles she faced and the struggles she had in her relationships. It was an experience that served to create a space for healing for her and for her to find her true self and live into it. Ultimately, this is what the journey of CPE is, whether as a first unit intern or as a Supervisory Education Student. My hope is that this blog will serve me as I discover my self and my vocation in this journey. And too, I hope it will serve to provide a few laughs along the way.

Ultimately, I write for myself and my own healing, but a part of me also hopes that a "somebody" out there will find something in my writing that is healing for them as well. The world of CPE is a world only a few know about and only a "fewer few" care to know about. So this blog is not about CPE. It is about my journey. No different than Julie Powell's blog was not about Julia Child's cookbook, but her journey.

But for now, my soon to be four year old middle child, Eian, is in need of a puzzle. I guess I am too. Thanks for beginning this journey with me.