Apparently I didn’t write a March edition? Probably because I spent the end of February madly trying to complete a paper and several grant applications.
It’s really a daunting discipline to write monthly updates like this. it makes me aware of how painfully slow progress can be!
Patristic Readers
I finally released some revisions to Perpetua. I should have tackled that immediately while teaching through the text. Lesson learn.
The next volume is actually not that far off completion, but I have not been able to carve out enough time to finish it off. I have less than ten pages worth of text to go, and then just checking some frequency numbers, writing some introductory material, and compiling the pdf version. If I can find the time, it could be done by the end of April.
Getting these to print is proving slower than anticipated. I guess this is the downside of working with a designer who is doing it as a side-project. I will try and get it moved along.
Papers and PhD
I worked quite hard towards the end of Feb to finish off a paper that was accepted for SBL Annual in November, so that was quite pleasing. I’ve been making slow but steady progress this month on the PhD, with some interesting reading on Basil and on Origen.
Upcoming trip
This month I’m travelling back to Mongolia for a 2 week intensive teaching block on Ephesians. So I have spent a quite considerable time writing materials on the book. Actually, I write a kind of ‘working commentary’ similar to what I have posted up for Galatians. This is incredibly time consuming – it takes me anywhere between 1-3 hours to comment on about 10 verses of text. It is ‘easy’ writing in once sense, i.e. I am not weighed down with the demands of writing a for publication volume and don’t really need to do all that much wide reading, but it just takes a lot of time to write very detailed comments on the Greek text. (Let alone the preparation I have to do to help my students understand Paul’s Greek in the Mongolian language).
But the long-term pay-off is certainly worth it. Having a self-written commentary is a highly productive way of organising one’s own thinking and notes for the future. I can just ‘refer to myself’ when I teach or preach upon the same material in the future.
Other
To be honest, I haven’t found time for anything else. I’ve been doing some tutoring here and there, very enjoyable, and try and squeeze some not-quite-on-topic reading in, but time is a scarce resource at the moment especially for side-projects. Once back from Mongolia I have a good 3.5 month block without large engagements or overseas travel, so I am optimistic that will be a very good working block.