A Ted & Company Introduction

Friends! Readers! Countrypeople, lend me your eyes! I am back, after five years (during which I swear absolutely nothing happened to me) with a fresh, new, exactly-the-same blog! This summer I am interning in Harrisonburg, VA with Ted Swartz of Ted & Co., and thought a blog would be a good way to spur and ensure my writing and reflection.

As a first post, I would like to share the blog I wrote for Ted's blog, (click here to see original post) to give an idea of what I'm doing (and for Pete's sake, why I'm doing it), where I am, and some of my hopes and dreams for the summer.

TED & CO ‘CATCHES’ A NEW INTERN

How do I describe myself when I am somewhere totally new, doing something I have never done before? What occupations, adjectives, relationships or accomplishments do I choose to communicate who I am? I am far from home, far from my friends and family, far from my normal. I can only tell you what I do, what I love, and what I think about, and hope that these will not limit what I will become this summer.

In my current incarnation, I am Ted’s Intern. I am here to collaborate with Ted, to do some of my own writing, and to pursue my interest in theological communication.

In my everyday life, I am a seminarian at AMBS, studying theology in pursuit of my MDiv. In addition to theologizing I write, grow food, lift weights, read science fiction novels, drink coffee, try to figure out how the world works, and worry about stuff. I got here by means of a fortuitous meeting in the halls of Mennonite convention, a (foolhardy?) willingness to dive into unchartered waters, a dream of learning new ways to talk about our world, and a 24-hour train trip.

In a past life I studied theater design at Goshen College, but left that behind when I quit school for a few years of farming. I finished undergrad in my hometown of Madison, Wisconsin, where I studied communications. Around this time I saw my first Ted & Company show, and amidst riotous tears of laughter I realized the power of theater to open us to the poignant by means of the hilarious. I realized that theater could help break open the world and turn the tables on our assumptions.

At seminary I began asking questions about how the work of theology—faith seeking understanding—is shared between people, leaders, and communities. We are constantly making meaning out of what we do in church and world, and I want to find ways to ensure we are making meaning that disrupts rather than reinforces norms of oppression.

We seminarians take ourselves Very Seriously; existential crises abound. This summer, I hope to look to Ted for ways to find the funny, the true, and the profound in our theology, wrapping them together so they cannot be torn apart to become a theology that is overwhelming, incomprehensible, or trite. My driving belief is that we listen differently when we have been laughing together.

I’m very excited to be working with Ted, and am unsure quite how I got this lucky. I have a few projects percolating in my brain that will hopefully turn into sketches, but don’t want to give any of them away too soon, so check back later for more!