Several have asked what is life like for me now and over the next few months. Here’s the summary:

• Learn Swedish: I’m using many great resources engaging multiple learning approaches (Duolingo, Pimsleur, Anki digital flash cards with some audio, Swedish Bible with audio, online news with audio, YouTube, Abba songs in Swedish, text books, other books, and a wonderful Swedish tutor, who is originally from Stockholm, which is important to have a central dialect). I will need to become fluent and teach in Swedish! This is a never ending lesson in humility, and again, I’m challenged to keep on keeping on despite the frustrations connected with the intrinsic needs to communicate and be understood.
• Revise and publish my dissertation: There will not be major revisions, but it will keep me busy for a while.
• Revise and publish a paper or two: The paper I presented in Tanzania in April will be revised for a collection of essays. I can consider revising and finding a publisher for my trial lecture. I’ll have to think about this strategically, as there is some diplomacy issues related to this one.
• Work on the work permit process and residency: The process of approving the work permit is delayed due to the 140,000 refugees on the rolls in Sweden. So, I need to figure out how Anya can enter the country to start school on Aug. 19 with or without me. We have two (!) invitations for her to stay with my future colleagues, but what will be the best way to avoid complications for moving to a resident status!?!
• Preparing to move: Time to declutter, downsize, prepare to pack, and get the upstairs ready for others to live here as we will rent out the whole house. I’m also trying to make the lawn care a bit lower maintenance.
• Get a job? If things continue to be delayed, perhaps I’ll look for some good options to plug in and work in meaningful ways. My priority is to get the dissertation published first, but I may take on some projects that fit well.
• Prepare to go to Tanzania: I’m facilitating another mission team from my church for 17 days in July. So, there are still important things to do in preparation.
• Connect with friends and family: Anya and I will make a 10-day trip to Minnesota and Wisconsin in the end of June. We’ll be with my parents and sisters for most of the time, but we’ll also take a road trip to Eric’s aunt’s farm in Wisconsin and visit Eric’s grave in the graveyard of Norway Lutheran Church. We haven’t been there when the headstone has been installed, though we’ve seen pictures. I have a list of people in the Seattle area that I’m eager to see and catch up with their lives, so I’ve already started with walks, lunches, and conversations over coffee and tea.
• Attend the regional SBL: The Regional Society of Biblical Literature conference (geek camp for adults) is coming up soon at the University of Idaho in Moscow, ID. I’m going to support one of my dear mentors, Charlie, who is giving the Presidential Address. I wouldn’t have pursued the PhD journey without Charlie’s and his wife, Pam’s, encouragement and guidance. My SBL conference roommate, another Beth, is a good friend and colleague.
• Be mom: I’ve been away quite a bit this spring, so I’m intentionally being present for Anya, which is great joy (ok, most of the time but not all the time). Pole vaulting at meets is over, but Anya is going to track practice still this last week because she love it and was just developing new skills.

With blessings,

Beth

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Two weeks ago, I was in the thick of my PhD defense. I’ve had a bit of time to reflect on the journey.

God’s Providence

Throughout my PhD journey, God’s hand of Providence has been amazing. The most important has been an advisor, Knut, who was perfect for my project. He is a leader in the sub-discipline of intercultural biblical interpretation, then narrowed to the Old Testament, then narrowed to Africa, then narrowed to interested in research with the Maasai, and then narrowed to a school with socialized (i.e., affordable) education. His prestigious and generous Norwegian Research Grant also rallied a scholarly conversations and helped to secure a research fellowship for 6 months while in Norway from Misjonshøgskolen. I could go on with so many other details where it seemed that God aligned the stars just for me, however, I would overwhelm you to boredom.

Support of friends and family

The PhD journey is crazy in many ways. It seems at times very self-focused: my research, my writing, my travels, my, my, my! While it was important (and Providential) to speed up the rate of completion and shifting from part-time to full-time, it was frustrating that I wasn’t able to balance more with serving others, especially my students at Trinity. So, I’m trying to find a balance now.

One other aspect of the long, plodding process of writing is the thousand, daily self-doubts. Did I understand this author? Did I interpret him/her adequately? What key sources am I missing? How will I know if I’m missing them? Did I cite this properly? Am I writing with enough analysis beyond descriptions? How could my defense committee members criticize this, then how do I pre-emptively correct it? Does this make sense? Do I have anything to contribute? And on, and on! I always knew that I wasn’t the brightest one on this journey. I joked that Knut’s other PhD student, Tina, was the intelligent one; I just was going to make it through by being the diligent one. It is a long, long struggle of just keeping on keeping on. (Yes, I did some comfort-eating in the intense writing phase, and I think I gained about 5 pounds!)

However, there were gracious friends who cared for me, prayed for me, and listened to me. It really does take a village. I am so grateful.

On May 4, the day after my defense, I awoke with tremendous joy. Later in the morning, it moved into grieving, knowing that I would be saying goodbye to the special friends in Sandnes/Stavanger who have been so kind, gracious, and hospitable. Before, when I was leaving, I always knew I would be back there. While there is a good chance I’ll be back, there is no plan already in the works. Sigh!

Knut took me out to lunch on my last full day in Norway (May 4). He took me to the same Chinese restaurant where he brought me on the first day I arrived in early January 2012. It was like bookends to my PhD! (An inclusio for those who know literary devices!) He debriefed the comments from the defense and helped to guide the revision objectives in order to prepare my dissertation for publication. He has even offered–but also encouraged me not to be limited to–publishing in the series he edits for the New York based Peter Lang Publishers. Because he will be able to negotiate for additional copies to be printed for African theological libraries, this makes good sense to me. (Being published in a series is also a benefit, as libraries will be more likely to purchase them.) So, this offer for publishing was icing on the cake!

I spent the afternoon with Marta, who hosted the celebration the previous night in her home. We just wanted time to talk. God knit Marta’s and my hearts together. It was a deep and rich conversation, but this also segues into the next reflection.

New friends who don’t know Eric

I realized that all my Norwegian friends (and recently made friends at home) never met Eric, so there is this gap in understanding regarding this huge aspect of my life. Many seem hesitant to ask about anything that would refer to Eric or how his passing (in 2010) affects my life now. Sometimes I bring up stories or memories about him that are relevant to the conversation, but few will ask anything more. After we move to Sweden, again no one will have a point of reference regarding my life with Eric.

However, Marta gave me the gift of asking about Eric and listening deeply. We sat with tea and leftover cake and talked and talked. There were no tears this time, and most often there aren’t, as the grieving has been mostly done. Marta brought Eric to life again in memories.

Other grieving

Last Saturday, May 7, was the closing of Trinity Lutheran College, my alma mater, and previous place of employment both as staff and faculty. All together, I spent 25 years–almost half my life–connected to that school. There was a palpable sense of grief for most. And while it was a loss, I had done most of my grieving last year when discerning that it was time to say goodbye and set my face to Uppsala. I was able to enjoy the zillion hugs that day from former students, alumni, former colleagues, and board members. I saw wonderful people who were part of half of my life. It was unfortunate circumstances, but I was grateful for the chance to see so many friends, as I just returned from Norway 2 days previously, and soon (OK, this fall) I’ll be taking off for Sweden.

The next post describes life between now and Sweden.

With blessings,

Beth

I have so much to write about the last few days as well as fleshing out the full days just before the defense. But let me press on with today to keep the grandparents informed.

While I was awake since 2:30 or so, the morning started with a 6:00 am wake up for Anya and her friend, Annaliese, who had a sleep over. It was the Color Run this morning, a fun 5K run in the Seattle Center area.

We had just enough time to shower before church. Then Anya and I joined the Middleton-Youngs for Mother’s Day brunch at the Pomegranate Bistro in Redmond for a lovely and delicious meal with great friends.

Afternoon naps and some Swedish homework for me and school homework for Anya ended with another rendezvous with the Middleton-Youngs for the hand-made chocolates that I bought at the bistro but wanted to save to enjoy later after our full stomachs had rested a bit.

JaLynn and Kristi just came from the confirmation groups help with Congregations for the Homeless (CFH), which our church hosts each May. Our Tanzania group is helping later this week. (Come back to hear more about CFH, my account of last Friday’s fund-raising dinner, and the upcoming mission teams service.)

With blessings,

Beth

I’m home safely and arrived in time to go to Anya’s last regular season track meet. I’m dead tired to the point of dizziness, so I’ll will write more and add photos tomorrow.

With blessings,

Beth

After the defense, there was a dinner and celebration hosted by my friends, Marta and Kjell, in their home.

Because my two external defense committee members has early flights out the next morning, they said–with apologies–that they were only going to stay an hour or so, thus the celebration started with the sharing of words. (They actually stayed over 3 hours!) Words are one of the love languages that I receive, so this was a special gift.

Rebecca, my host here in Norway and the PhD coordinator, started with some words about the defense. She announced that my trial lecture and defense (disputatio) has been approve by the committee. So, I am “doctora designata” pending the official “creation” of my doctorate by the board of my university. So, I guess I’m on a probationary status!

Rebecca continued with a few quotes from the defense. The first was my quote of my adviser, Knut, who encouraged me after a frustrating mid-way defense last June. I had classical biblical scholars who didn’t understand my project. Knut reflected, “We [with our intercultural work] will never be in the center of the discipline but on the margins. But what is the difference between the margins and the cutting edge.”

The second quote was my metaphor for my mid-way evaluation. “I did jazz dance before classical ballet critics. No matter how good–or still developing–my jazz dance is, it is bad ballet.”

I appreciate ballet with its traditions, discipline, and beauty, but that’s not my dance. So, Rebecca riffed on this. Because I’m doing jazz dance, so therefore, I have a great jazz dance instructor, Knut! We were all laughing at pushing this metaphor include Knut! Of course, he is a great mentor!

Knut also said some kind words, and was in good form with his dry wit. In Norway, there is a strong value of egalitarianism, so that no universities have caps and gowns, as that would elevate them above the rest. So, no academic regalia for me. Thus, Knut thought that he should provide one related to my project–a Maasai shuka (blanket)! And then in his hilarious delivery, he pulled one out for each of the defense committee in recognition of the intercultural connections.

So, for all my Maasai friends, you were with us in spirit in Norway yesterday.

The celebration continued with dinner, where I had nice conversations with my defense committee members. What a nice way to wrap up this journey.

The cakes were wonderful too!

Marta ordered a special cake with Swedish congratulations as a nod to the upcoming move to Sweden (and she’s going to come and visit!).

So, it was an amazing day, where I was able to live into it and also enjoy it. Thanks for all the prayers that I felt as I was carried through the day with an amazing centeredness and calm, which grew into gratefulness and celebration of God’s faithfulness.

With blessings,

Beth

I am because we are, and since we are therefore I am.*

This African proverb relays my gratitude today for all who have supported me on the 4+ year journey of a PhD.

So, I will pass on any title when being addressed. I wouldn’t be here without the support of many others. I extend my gratitude and blessings to:

• For Knut Holter, my revered adviser, who saw the potential of the proposal and nurtured this project to fruition beyond my expectations with his relentless support, constructive critiques, and modeling of exemplary diplomacy. He significantly strengthened the outcomes, yet any shortcomings are consequently mine;
• For Charlie and Pam Scalise, who launched and encouraged me on the path of scholarship. This dissertation topic was sparked by Pam, but I ended up at MHS through Charlie’s phronesis (practical wisdom);
• For my Maasai conversation partners. I would prefer to honor you by name if research protocols allowed it, but this project would not have been possible without your generous participation. I have been transformed by you. Ashe Naling.
• For M. Kananen, Jean Wahlstrom, and Elaine Elness, for valiant transcribing and intrepid proofing of multiple versions of the dissertation; and the support of Elenn’ Elness and “Research Assistant” Anya Hanson, for the painstaking help with citation checks and more proofing;
• For daughter Anya Hanson, who accommodated times of my absence, my stressed stints, and travel to Africa and Norway (OK, a perk!);
• For my parents, Elaine and Jerry Elness, who instilled in me a love for the world and other cultures, but especially for following Jesus Christ; and together with Bill and Karen Hanson, for their love, encouragement, and financial support;
• For the administrators, library staff, faculty, student colleagues, research community, and Birkeland’s Legacy at Misjonshøgskolen. Thank you for your gracious assistance, scholarships, and a six-month research fellowship. Special words of thanks go Tina Dykesteen Nielsen, Hoyce Jacob Lyimo-Mbowe, Zephania Shila Nkesela, and Rebecca Solevåg.
• For Elizabeth Hayes, who helped a budding scholar collect scattered thoughts into a cohesive proposal and has encouraged me all along the way;
• For the hospitality of Rev. Professor Joseph Parsalaw and the archives at Tumaini University Makumira; and Dr. Seth Msinjili, Ciwila Shirima, and Rebecca Ernest at the MaaSAE Girls Lutheran Secondary School.
• For the Catherine and Tom Boysen family; the Kristi Middleton and Peter Youngs family; and Janet Cederberg, who graciously cared for Anya while I was away;
• For the memory of Eric T. Hanson, my late husband, whose reminiscences and Nordic fascinations have been part of this journey;
• For all who have cared, prayed, encouraged, and tolerantly listened to obtuse descriptions of this project, as well as given numerous airport rides;

Indeed, I am, because of you.

So how did the day go?

I woke up with my SleepTime app telling me that I slept 5 hours of REM and deep sleep. A record for me by at least an hour! (My previous record was just about 4 hours in the middle of a vacation!) I know people are praying, and this is truly amazing! So, I woke up rested.

I had breakfast (more brunost, brown goat cheese, on bread) with Tanzanian tea I brought. I spent time with a bit of review, re-reading my summary chapter and some notes I had prepared.

I arrived in good time to set up the powerpoint for the introduction for those in the audience who had not read the 328 page dissertation (and I wouldn’t ask you to!). The 10 minute introduction gave the highlights, and thankfully, Knut jumped up to advance the sides on my cue as the remote was not working–despite an earlier test.

Dr. Fernando Segovia was the first “opponent” in the “disputation.” Fortunately, he re-framed the session to a conversation and was graciously challenging. Some questions I was ready for, to some degree, but there were others that stretched me. We are aligned in the interest of intercultural hermeneutics, but we are a bit different in our ideological perspectives, but with a respect for where the other comes from. So, it was a bit of a dance to represent in a scholarly context my point-of-view of the Bible as Scripture and the faith-motivated service to the church motivations underpinning my research.

At the break, people indicated that they thought it went well, and that I seemed calm as I gave thoughtful responses. There was a lunch (I chose a Norwegian salmon sandwich) with the defense committee, the PhD Coordinator, my adviser, and me. It was amazingly comfortable, and Dr. Segovia commended me on my last theistic response. I had a wonderful conversation with Dr. Madipoane Masenya, which helped to build the connection with our shared passions for marginalized women and girls in Africa, but these weren’t part of my dissertation. So, I think this was a way to share in ways that connected us perhaps in a way she didn’t expect from just reading the dissertation. But more on this below.

Toward the end of the break, I had a few minutes with my two future colleagues from Sweden, who had some encouraging words. At times I feel a little theologically vulnerable navigating the protocols of academia and scholarship for the defense committee, while still having a representation of my faith convictions which resonate with the mission of my future Swedish institution.

No one from the audience (ex-auditorio) wanted to ask a question, which made things easier. The question from the audience could come out of nowhere by people who have not read the dissertation. So it could have been a bit of a wildcard.

Dr. Madipoane Masenya picked up the pace of the questioning. Some questions I expected in a general sense. There were others that made me think on my feet. I think I handled one in a way that was cogent, and almost surprised me how it made sense. She had a portion of the questions which asked about the Maasai culture, and I thought that this is easy. I know this stuff better than anyone in the room. It took up some time with some interesting cultural aspects, and I was able to bring in other related content beyond my dissertation. Whew! However, she did still challenge me on not foregrounding (yes, this is a word used meaning to focus on or make prominent) some of the feminist issues. I hear her and really see her perspective. I’ll be pondering this seriously.

So, it was a great example of what a defense is to be as other exceptional scholars affirmed but graciously challenged in a way that strengthens my project and will be reflected in the revisions prior to publication. I’m pleased.

Now, I’m off to a celebration of God’s faithfulness throughout this journey with a dinner and Norwegian cake buffet at the home of Marta and Kjell. What a blessing!

With blessings,

Beth

*Source: John Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy, 2nd Revised & Enlarged Edition (Oxford: Heinemann, 1969), 110.

I was up early and putting the last touches on my trial lecture paper, a topic I was given 2 weeks ago: Gender and Intercultural Criticism: The Book of Ruth and African Women. I needed a stronger conclusion to tie in the aspects I covered, but still end with my main point: “The women are the center of the family. If you bless a woman, the entire family will be blessed.”

The lecture was scheduled for 5:15 pm, so I had the morning to tweak, and then spend some time in preparations for tomorrow. After a little lunch of a brown goat cheese sandwich (I do like this cheese), I put on my rain pants over my dress pants (yes, no skirt/dress for me, especially in a windy and rainy city on the North Sea coast), and walked to the bus.

I arrived and did a bit of work in the library. I transitioned to the main building just as Jim and LarsOlov arrived from Sweden. What an honor to have two future colleagues come!

After a bit of time alone with a hard copy to mark up all the African theologians names with pronunciation marks (and a few typos corrected), I was ready to meet the special guests for an early dinner of pizza. Here is my bibliography up close and personal! Dr. Fernando Segovia, from Vanderbuilt, is a recent President of the Society of Biblical Literature! What an honor! He is very kind (I already knew he was brilliant from reading his works).  Dr. Madipoane Masenya flew in yesterday from South Africa. She greeted me warmly, as she knows who I am (Knut’s student) from the African Biblical Hermeneutics sessions of the Society of Biblical Literature (geek camp in nice hotels for adults!).

I’m asking friends for some pictures, as I was a bit caught up in protocol and avoided taking pictures. I am a bit intimidated by these world-class biblical scholars. I’m also a bit unsettled at all this spotlight, but at least it is a small spotlight, and I get to share a message that is beyond me that will contribute to intercultural approaches to biblical studies–building bridges across cultures on biblical texts.

My two Maasai project colleagues gathered with me before the lecture, and Hoyce prayed for me. What a gift!

The “Trial Lecture” is meant to be a 45 minute reading of a paper on the topic provided. In theory, it could be rejected, and then the defense doesn’t go on tomorrow, but it is almost a formality if the dissertation is accepted. However, I was glad that it gave me an opportunity to address some of the issues that were identified in my dissertation report in a way that I think sets me up better for tomorrow’s defense–the more challenging aspect.

There were about 15 people there in a fairly large auditorium, so it was fairly comfortable in spite of having a formal protocol. The crazy thing is that I never “lecture” this way–reading prepared notes–in a classroom. With my “student-centered learning” approach, I try to not have more that 15-20 minutes of a presentation with interjections of questions or time for feedback before some active engagement with the students in small groups or with an exercise. So, this is not my style, but it is academia!

It seemed to go well, and there were enough meaningful comments to satisfy. I seemed to have navigated the politics of being a Caucasian American with an assignment to deal with “African Women” in a tricky-to-navigate post-colonial context.

I received word that my lecture had been accepted before I left the campus. Whew! (not really)

I got a ride home from Tina, my former PhD colleague friend. She defended last October, so I learned a bit from her journey.

Vidal had a wonderful dinner of stir fry noodles, and I told him that I’m not going to want to leave with his wonderful cooking! We had a great conversation over dinner, and I learned about the close relationship of the Salvation Army with the Norwegian Lutheran Church. It was wonderful to hear of this ecumenical spirit.

I’m going to read a bit to review some bits of my dissertation, some hermeneutical philosophy of Hans-Georg Gadamer, and some notes I prepared for the defense tomorrow! I hope I sleep well.

With blessings (and those who were at my trial lecture tonight know more about the deep meaning this has for me),

Beth

So, late last night, I received an email from my adviser, Knut, who read through my trial lecture revisions. He said it was fine, but he made just a few suggestions to strengthen it. They all are insightful.

Then he added that I should make sure that I am on campus early enough in the day to make copies of my trial lecture for each of the defense committee members and him. Surprise! I didn’t know they would get a copy. I was writing for content and not careful about making sure all my footnotes were publication ready!!!

I went to bed and dreamed I was in a tsunami! (I got wet, but I survived!) I had plans for church and a hike, which I did. I’ll update the post later with some nice pictures. But I spent about four hours this evening getting the paper ready to print with proper footnotes. I’ll take a bit of time to work with Knut’s recommendations in the morning.

So, I don’t have time to make full post tonight–or probably not tomorrow either! This is the homestretch!

I will just add that after worship today at the Stavanger International Church, there was a fellowship time. I met one of the new Ethiopian masters students. Then, my Tanzanian PhD student colleague walked up, and I asked if he would be willing to pray for me prior to one of the defense sessions. Of course, he was glad to do so. But then, the Ethiopian said, “Let’s pray right now.” The Fijian pastor came along side me too, and it was powerful. My eyes were moist when the amen was said. What an amazing gift.

With blessings,

Beth