a pile of nails

"Beginning to study" hardly describes what I have been working through this past week. For example, how is a pile of nails similar to what I hope to accomplish? The problem was to figure out a way to balance all 17 nails on one nail. How we solve this is like what we hope to accomplish in research.
Actually, the analogy of nails is similar to the challenges I face in my own ministry. How can Christians from one culture and background work together with others without one culture exerting control over the other or defining what is acceptable or bad? In other words how do we balance ourselves together…? (It's hard enough for any of us in our own culture to do this ...much less from different cultures?! )

There are 14 of us who are beginning our research at the same time. We have been getting set-up, oriented to the process and prepared for the challenges. Yesterday, we received library cards to use the Oxford Bodleian library. We had to read an oath to the librarian that in the library among other things, we would neither beg steal or borrow, eat or drink, nor "light a fire and kindle a flame." Here I am waiting to read the oath.