“It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” I sang this to a friend of mine, half-joking about how much I love attending SBL. Thus far, the conference has not disappointed. There are generally two major goals that I have at the conference each year. First, catch up with friends and meet new people. And second, be engaged by multiple angles of scholarship. The latter occurs for me in attending sessions and checking out books in the exhibition.
Both goals have been successful thus far. The fun typically begins at the airport of my departure, this year LAX. I saw one distinguished Old Testament scholar, in fact, on the FlyAway shuttle from Union Station to the airport. Waiting at the gate, you inevitably see several scholars who meet the expectations. A guy talking on the phone about rabbinic scholarship. Someone reading a book on the historical Jesus. I struck up a conversation with historical Jesus guy. Then, I saw one of my former professors from Fuller.
On the plane, I was tinkering with my upcoming presentation and the guy across the aisle from me asked me what program unit I would be presenting for. The fun continues in the destination airport as scholars find their baggage, bump into each other and decide how to get to their hotels. I met up with Kevin, who arrived at the airport around the same time as I did and we caught a taxi to the Marriott with another UCLA student and her colleague.
I gather that Friday night is generally a “down night” for a lot of people. My SBL weekend always gets off to a great start on Friday night, though, with the Mennonite Scholars and Friends reception. That reception thoroughly met my first goal of catching up and meeting new people. I love being part of such a tight and small group of biblical scholars with Anabaptist interests. The reception was much more subdued than past meetings. I wasn’t at the Boston meeting, but before that, AAR was with us and the reception used to be more than double what it was this year. That, and it seems none of the receptions can really afford much to offer people as they stand around and chat. But, even with fewer people and no food, it still felt like the best way to jump start the weekend.
More to come . . .
