last RUF for the semester

Now Playing: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe soundtrack by Harry Gregson-Williams. Track 14, "Can't Take It In".

December 12, 2006

This morning I slept much later than I thought I would. Jenny H. came to our room to hang out for awhile. We sipped tea and ate long, thin cookies (which, as Syneva has informed me, are not called pirouettes but “love-letters”). We compared notes about our semester, shared prayer requests, and prayed. After Jenny H. left, I studied until ten-thirty for music theory. Then Rachel and I went running in the gym. We went to lunch together and sat with a bunch of other RUFers. Eleanor had brewed tea for herself, but it was too hot to drink—so she poured it into a couple of unused plastic gloves (from the servers in the food lines) and dipped the gloves into a cup of cold water so that the tops of the gloves stuck out over the rim of the glass. The cup sure looked weird with its contents of milky tea contained in plastic, like something out of a science lab. In the afternoon, I studied some more and read part of G.K. Chesterton’s The Everlasting Man. Amanda came by to give Rachel her birthday present. She sat in our room and chatted for awhile, After Amanda left, I read some more, until Syneva stopped by. She came to hang out for awhile. While Rachel studied quietly at her desk, Syneva sprawled on my bed, and I sat perched on my desk. I made apple cider for Syneva and tea for myself. We crunched the thin cookies and talked and laughed, trying not to be too uproarious for Rachel’s sake. After Syneva left, the brown-sugar-cinnamon smell of her apple cider lingered behind in the room.

At about four o’clock, Rachel and I decided to go to Borders to buy books. We drove down to 21^st street, the fancy strip of shops which includes Utica Square. Borders was crowded with people, many of them doing Christmas shopping, I imagine. Inside the store, Rachel and I split up to investigate our own interests. I looked at the journals, daydreaming, though I have three lovely ones to keep me occupied for now. Someday I want to get one of the journals with magnetic covers that snap shut, with gold embossed on them in Moroccan designs. I browsed through the literature section and looked at poetry. I found a book of Seamus Heaney’s poetry that looked quite interesting—cold, northern, reminding me very much of Anglo-Saxon poetry. Of course, there were no Complete Poems of Walter de la Mare or Complete Poems of G.K. Chesterton. I glanced through the mystery section and found a thick volume of Dorothy Sayers’s short stories.

But the best part was, of course, the fantasy section because it contained a good selection of Tolkien-related things (though one must always wade through the fantasy section with blinders on because of the ridiculously garish book covers, which contain all sorts of nasty monsters and witches and things). There was a gorgeous collection of four maps, which I’ve often looked at longingly, but never bought: Wilderland, Middle-Earth, Beleriand, and Numenor. And a little paperback volume, The Tolkien Reader. When I found this one, I sat down abruptly on a stool beside the bookshelf to flip through and see if it contained “On Fairy Stories”. It did, to my delight—and “Leaf by Niggle”, which I read straight through, perched on the stool, right in everyone’s way. A young woman sat on the floor in the mystery section nearby, reading. A father and his daughter sidled past, both searching the titles of fantasy books avidly. The daughter wore a short, plaid, schoolgirl skirt and white shirt. She seemed very keen, and so did her father. I heard them mention Erragon and the Star Wars books. I haven’t read “Leaf by Niggle” for a long time, but as I revisited it, all the old poignancy came surging back. When I finished the story, I looked up with a sigh, like someone waking from a dream, surprised to find the bookshelves and people still around me. Clutching Sayers and Tolkien, I ventured upstairs. I looked briefly in the religion section and found a copy of The Weight of Glory, but decided not to buy it this time. I glanced at the CDs, at the calendars, at the art books, and at the children’s section downstairs.

But I was content with my two volumes, and so floated around aimlessly. I found a large book about weaponry, and flipped through glossy pages of swords, crossbows, rapiers, daggers, knives, claymores, longbows, spears, pilums, and the rest. I was back in poetry when I bumped into Rachel. She was trying to find a book by Tolkien with “Farmer Giles of Ham” and “Smith of Wooton Major” in it, so we went to the fantasy section together, and I managed to find it, squeezed between Unfinished Tales and part of The History of Middle-Earth. She already had another book, a math book, so we decided to check out. The checkout line was rather long. Two small girls squatted on the floor, reading a book about princesses and pointing out which dresses they wanted. Their mother had to haul them along by the arms when she had finished buying her books. Rachel and I drove back to campus, happy and contented with our purchases. Evening was hovering in the sky overhead.

Back in our room, I wrote for awhile. At six o’clock, Rachel and I forayed over to John Mabee to see if Logan had arrived yet. He’d e-mailed me earlier in the day to tell me that he was coming to visit the RUF guys and maybe challenge Kevin to a videogame duel. On our way over to John Mabee, Rachel and I met Alex, coming back from an auction. The diner on 11^th street by the stadium is auctioning off all its décor before the building is bulldozed to make room for university apartments, and Alex had bought a poster of Marilyn Monroe. It was so ridiculously overdone that it made Rachel and me laugh. In John Mabee, we found Logan helping Kevin study for a calculus exam. We also found a crowd of other RUFers (Leslie, Hannah, Bob, Eleanor, David, and James) heading to the caf for supper. So Logan, Rachel, and I joined them. On the way over, a couple of guys attacked James and David. They were soon rolling on the lawn, wrestling cheerfully, grunting and shouting. We kept walking, laughing at them. In the caf, they were serving fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and toast for supper. It reminded me of the meals at Braums, except of course that there was no milkshake to wash it down with. We all crowded around a round table—and crowded even more when Amy and Jenny H. joined us.

At seven forty-five, we left campus to drive to the Ks’ house for RUF, a less formal RUF—Mr. K is out-of-town, and it’s finals week, so everyone just went to the Ks’ house to sing hymns, share testimonies, and eat cookies. The Ks’ house was full of people. It seemed as though almost everyone was there. Faces peered out of every corner, all jumbled and jostled together, laughing and smiling. Faces in the hall, in the living room, in the dining room, in the kitchen. A huge Christmas tree occupied one corner by the fireplace, creamy lights winking from its feathery branches. The spicy smell of juniper underlay the smells of cider and cookies and hot bodies crowded together. Asher, presiding over the cheerful chaos, finally decided to call the meeting to order. People scrambled to find places to sit. Rachel ended up on the sofa under the window with Crystal, Leslie, and Kathryn. Jason, Mardel, Micah, and Amanda sat on the chairs and the loveseat around the edge of the living room. James, Eleanor, Logan, Amy, Jenny S., Rachel K., Kali, Charis, and I all sat on the floor. The dining room and hallway were full, too. Syneva and Alisha took up their positions at the front of the room, across from the fireplace. Syneva sat at the piano, and Alisha stood next to her with her violin. David Mo. sat in the entryway with a bongo drum. Spencer stood on Syneva’s other side, with his guitar. Ange and Joanna were in the corner by the hallway behind Spencer, to lead the singing. Jenny H. peered over their shoulders.

We opened with prayer and Scripture reading. Everyone sang and sang and sang. Syneva’s fingers danced over the piano, improvising arpeggios and cascading chords. Spencer’s hands strummed the guitar, and Alisha’s bow pulled surely over the taut strings. Amanda requested Psalm 73, and right after that, Crystal, seeing my delight, requested Psalm 130. I was so happy to get to sing with everyone else! The house bulged with music, music pressing outward against the walls, the windows, the door. Chords and tunes and strong words. They sang a few Christmas carols, and many other hymns. Amanda, Rachel, Bob, and Nicole all got up to share their testimonies, briefly speaking about what God had done for them over the past semester. Amanda and Rachel both talked about trusting God and being humble. Bob mentioned his growth in doctrine and belief. Nicole gave thanks for the amazing love and fellowship of the RUF community. The time of singing ran for about an hour-and-a-half. Asher closed in prayer, and finished by everyone singing “Silent Night”. Amy’s voice wove up through the melody, a shimmering descant on the last cadence.

A rich pause, and then conversation and chaos burst out again. Jenny H. wove through the crowd, saying good-byes before disappearing upstairs to study. People started to leave. Logan and Crystal briefly discussed Psalmody before Logan left. I thanked Crystal for choosing Psalm 130. Charis, prancing around through the crowd, tossed a teddy bear at me. I tossed it back. We made a game of seeing how hard we could hit each other with it. Then I whispered to her, “Throw it at Amanda!” So Charis lobbed the teddy bear at Amanda, who threw it back. They started to throw it back and forth until Charis decided to pick up one of the large, heavy pillows that was lying on the floor. Jason and David got involved, and it became all-out war. Jason adopted a samurai stance, his hands positioned in front of him to deflect pillows. Charis determinedly tossed pillows at him, letting herself get madder and madder. She put on a ferocious face, puckering her lips and glowering fiercely. When Jason retreated, Charis and Josh piled onto David, attacking him and hitting him, tossing aside the pillows and using their hands instead. Charis finally “tied” David’s hands together with a scrunchie, and led him off, with Josh riding on his back.

I talked a bit with Rachel, with Jenny H., with Tara, and with Amanda and Syneva. Jenny and Alisha asked how I was, and I was rather dismal. “Not any better?” Jenny S. asked. I shrugged. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I hope things get going better.” She started to tell gruesome stories from Kill Bill 2, a movie which she and David had watched the night before. Absolutely disgusting, but the way she told them made me laugh and laugh. “E--! Your ride is leaving!” Asher called from the front door. “I’ve got to go, Jenny,” I said. She gave me a big hug—for a moment, I felt completely safe. Then it was time to go. Alisha, Tara, and Rachel were waiting outside. I hurried out after them, and Asher walked us to the car with Kali and Rachel K. Lots of good-byes, and then Alisha drove us back to campus. Back at the room, Rachel and I went to bed.

"Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you." Genesis 28:15