AIG - Thank God I Still Have a Job ...

Many friends have been worried about me, especially since I work for AIG. But thank God, I still have a job for now. What happened was nothing short of scary. Basically (and this is oversimplifying), AIG insured a lot of bad mortgages. They insured payment of a bond if there was a default. Well with the recent credit crisis, this all went down the tubes. Part of the reason is that AIG is as an insurer required to use "mark to market" accounting. What this means is illustrated with this analogy: Suppose you have a home that is worth $250,000, but no one will buy it, so it's market value becomes $0 because no one can or will buy your asset. So, if you were using "mark to market" accounting, you would have to list the value of your house as $ 0 not $ 250,000. So a bunch of AIG assets that had value had to be rescued because their mark to market value was going down rapidly.
What would have happened had AIG gone bankrupt was that they would have to sell all of their assets (including Property & Casualty Insurance) at a deep discount. So we would have been sold off. Actually, the part of the business where I work is over capitalized and last year made a profit of about $2 billion. We have more than we need to do business as a property casualty insurer. But fortunately for us we aren't going anywhere for a while because we are one of AIG's core assets. We're OK! Thank God!

A Little Rant on the COM

Coincidences, - I met a member of the COM (that's Commission on Ministry) while on retreat at Mt. Calvary. I shared that I was getting ready to go to Fuller to start my M. Div., at which she said rather curtly (she's a nice lady though) - "The COM takes a dim view of anyone who goes to seminary without letting COM know". If I weren't at the monastery and the Holy Spirit wasn't doing His magic, I would have just lost it.

Actually, I probably would have said something to the effect of - well where else am I supposed to go for rigorous Christian formation? Don't get me wrong, Trinity Cathedral is an awesome place and sometimes has great formation programs. I'm privileged to be part of one of the best - EfM. This is a great program, and there have been others. However, given my call to really minister to people and a strong avocation for theoretical theology, I wanted to go somewhere where these needs could be met.

It just bugs me that in the Episcopal Church and some other mainline churches that Seminary is supposed to be one big secret accessible only to the vetted elite. All of the big books about hermeneutics, exegesis, theology and all that are locked up so Priests will have an unending source for useless, pedantic, innane humor in their sermons (sorry, that was a cheap shot ...).

The point of the matter is that some of us (yes few, but some) want a theological education to make us better ministers of the Gospel in our own context as laity. For example, as I relayed to my parish priest, my call is to teach and counsel, not so much to do work at the altar. COM doesn't really want anything to do with people like me (that is people who aren't gunning for the Priesthood or Diaconate), and yet they would take a dim view of the fact that I want to learn about my faith and a discipleship life in an academic context? (Or actually, do they take a dim view of me going to a Seminary that rejects the Bultmannian approaches to a de-mythologized theology that makes Christianity so watered down that it's useless?)

Monastic Menagerie

For the past three days I've been staying at Mt. Calvary Monastery in Santa Barbara. It's a beautiful place aesthetically, but spiritually, it is even more beautiful. I know that the Lord reveals things to us when we need them. That has been especially true during my time here at Mt. Calvary. This place is really Church as it perhaps ought to be. Here I've encountered liberal Episcopalians, non-Christians, conservative evangelicals, Lutherans, and all manner of people, but they all pray together and eat together. I've had some of really awesome conversations here. I learned lots from people and people learned from me, especially because many of the mainliners haven't really encountered someone like me - that is a gay evangelical anglo-catholic. It's a bit perplexing to them, but once they realize that I'm not a seething fundamentalist, things smooth a bit.

I've had lots of time to ponder, and special times with the monastics as well as others who also happened to be on private retreat during this time. Indeed it is an awesome ministry to be able to work in your own context (for example, I had a goal of reading 3 books, which I did in three days, actually I came out ahead of schedule), yet there is also time to sit and enjoy the beautiful sunrise or sunset, and time to talk with others. This is another one of those times when I am reassured of the existence of the Holy Spirit because of what happens here. This morning, apparently, a crew from Westmont College, an evangelical liberal arts college, come for Friday Lauds and Eucharist and have breakfast (at an Episcopal monastery nonetheless). Something's afoot in the world and I'm glad to be part of it.

Pax Domini Sit Semper Vobiscum

Ian