Something to remember.

I had to remind myself of something today.

I am in seminary for many reasons. I am there for training in professional ministry -- that is, for credentialling and for ministerial formation.

But for every late night that I've kept, for every hour I've lost to school, for every paper that has frustrated me and exam that has annoyed me and student that has exasperated me...

I love what I am doing. I am in a program where I can engage in dialogue on matters of faith with similar seekers, where I can read and digest and discuss the Biblical writers (or some of them), like the Prophets, the author(s) of the Psalms, John the Evangelist, even some Paul; classic writers like Augustine of Hippo, Benedict of Nursia, and Julian of Norwich; as well as some contemporary writers like Walter Brueggemann and Jim Wallis.

One day I presume I'll lay claim to Unitarian or Universalist writers, but I can say for now that I'm intruiged by James Luther Adams, George de Benneville, and Ralph Waldo Emerson, the fire hasn't struck yet.

It is in seminary that I can study sociology, and history, and literature, and art, and pastoral theology, and spirituality, and try to weave it all together into the tapestry we call Christianity--frayed in places, scorched in others, and in some places stunningly beautiful.

In other words, I had to remember what a blessing seminary is for me. I suspect (well, I know) that even after I finish my degree, after a host of requirements and obligations are met--I'll be back in class again. And probably still loving it.