Monday, July 28, 2008

Statues on the Southern Nazarene University campus

I've been cleaning out a storage unit I have had since Cat and I merged our houses together. I'm trying to clear it out and close it down, so I can save the $85 a month it is costing me.

A big part of the collection is boxes and boxes of books. I am trying to force myself to give up all of them that I don't need and won't read, but it is tough to do.

Many of the books have to do with religion and literature. This comes from the fact that I studied for the ministry during my undergraduate years and even got a Master's in religion afterwards. Then I decided I'd go into teaching English at the university level.

Life happened, and I ended as a high school English teacher.

I am donating as many of my religion and English books as I can bear to part with. I still have a great interest in religion and theology, but there are many upper level works that might be of more use to some present religion or than they would be to me. The same is true with books dealing with the more arcane topics in literature like Deconstruction, Structuralism, and Linguistics. None of these are of much help when it comes to teaching reading and writing in an urban high school.

Today, I visited my Alma Mater to drop off some books for the English and Religion departments. It's always nice to visit the campus now and again. They've added some nice statuary.

"Do as I have done. . ."
This is a statue of Jesus depicting a scene from the Last Supper where Jesus washes the feet of his disciples and commands that they do the same for others.

"A Cup . . . in His name"
This is one done by Scott Stearman who was at the college when I was there. He is quite a talented sculptor of religious art. Mom and Dad have a copy of this which I believe they got as a reward for service to others.

Dr. Fred Floyd
This statue is of particulary interest to me. The statue on the bench depicts Dr. Fred Floyd, a much loved professor of history at the college. Dr. Floyd taught at the college for several decades. He always claimed that his PhD dissertation was on "dirty stories." In reality, it was about the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma. Note the stick in his hand. Dr. Floyd walked to and from the campus nearly every day with an "idiot stick" or a broom handle with a nail in the end so he could pick up trash that he found along the way.
Close up of Dr. Floyd's statue

No comments: