Truths and Lies Revealed
Recently, as in two posts ago, I made three statements, two of which were true, and one was false. Today, statement by statement, I'll go through and explain the nature of the event that happened or did not happen.

Statement #1: I once performed as a dancer at the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto.
This is true, strange, but true. I was serving on the Waterloo Christian Fellowship Executive with a girl named Norma, who had connections in the equine world. She had been asked to put something together, and her group of professionals backed out, so she recruited various friends, myself included. We ran around the horse jumping arena (between shows of course) acting out a scene from Grease, and mouthing the words to "Summer Lovin'". One of my more obscure memories. That night I also got my first taste of non-alcoholic beer. I wish I could forget that part of the memory.

Statement #2: A recipient of the Governor General's Award for writing, and an officer of the Order of Canada, (same person) personally asked to see a copy of some of my literary work.
This is also true. One night I went on campus to listen to Rudy Wiebe, acclaimed author, Governor General's award recipient, etc. He gave a talk on the notion of land ownership, combining colonial mentality and native Canadian concepts. Afterwards there was a snack time, where various people talked to him and got their books signed. Coincidentally, a month before, I had gone on a Rudy Wiebe book buying binge (three novels, they were on sale), but I hadn't completely read through "Sweeter Than All the World," which was his latest work. I had it with me however, and figured that if I got the chance, I would get him to sign it. It looked as though he would be busy the whole night, but I finally got a chance to talk to him. I didn't have high expectations, but he was genuinely interested in my writing, which included a full-length historical play about Mennonites. He encouraged me in my work, and said he would like to read it over some time. I never did send it to him. The longer I wait, the less convinced I am that the script is all that good. He eventually signed my copy of "Sweeter Than All the World," writing "To Will, who writes history too, Peace, Rudy Wiebe", making it one of my coolest possessions.

Statement #3: Representatives from three different seminaries, two American, one Canadian, have contacted me about the prospects of me studying theology and/or pastoral leadership at their schools.
By now you've figured out that this is the false one. A good lie always sounds more believable than a crazy truth. A seminary is a school that grants a Masters of Divinity. There is only one Anabaptist seminary in North America, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary in Elkhart, Indiana, and they have contacted me. Conrad Grebel University College offers a Masters of Theological Studies, and they have contacted me as well. Nobody else has contacted me, and I don't particularly feel called to look anywhere else. [Note: It was brought to my attention that there is also a seminary at Eastern Mennonite University in Virginia. Perhaps my definition of seminary is then wrong. I don't know if EMS grants an MDiv.]

Thanks for playing along.

   [ posted by William @ 4:15 PM ]