Belonging Chapter in Second Draft

Glasses and a reading book

Well I have sent another chapter to my supervisor. Yes I know it is just over a week to do this but I have had a lovely long thesis spell this weekend. So I had to shop of Friday but I had Friday afternoon, all of Saturday and Sunday plus this afternoon. The chapter was also the most complete of the chapters when I went through first draft so I did not have huge amounts of stuff to change, that said I found I was doing more than I would have liked. The need was basically to clarify the chapter but to do that I had to do a lot of work on putting things in the right place.

What is equally true is that I analyse through writing. That is it is when I get to dealing with detailed description that oddly my brain seems to start working analytically with the topic. For instance I noticed in writing about belonging that the real time when there were arguments were not actually when there were problems with the outside world but when there was conflicts between strands of the congregations own identity. This in turn goes back to the coupling/binaries that I have seen in the Reformed tradition. These of course are where there are arguments that are contained within the tradition and therefore are not easily settled. The within nature of these things is what makes for the intractability. What you tend to get is a swinging motions which seems to continue for far longer than you'd expect. Then there are constellation, when certain themes in the identity start to come together. When this happens a congregation is likely to move quite strongly in that direction.

I think I am going to start an editor note book with things that I need to go through and check I have built right into my thesis. otherwise I am going to neglect important information.

Oh and why the specs. Well today was also a thesis day, but this morning I had to be out of the home, so I took my courage in my hands and went and got my eyes tested. I am getting older and now need varifocals. Something I have recognised for a year or two but have been putting off as long as possible. It should make reading and working easier. So I sort of feel that is was thesis or rather I will get the time back for thesis. I then went to a cafe and read a book related to thesis (well one of the most recent publications in the area). Then back this afternoon and preparing for a conference tomorrow and the day after. So I printed out the next chapter for re-drafting and hope I get chance to read it this week.