Well, fall semester of middler year at Trinity has come and gone. Actually, half of seminary has come and gone. Yikes!
The last semester was nothing short of an incredible span of months, both intellectually and spiritually. A big part of that was due to my Mentored Ministry class -- a yearlong program where a student works closely with a pastor in a parish. I have been working at Shepherd's Heart Fellowship, an inner city church devoted to serving the poor. This semester has stretched me plenty, both in teaching me how to be a better servant to broken people and in teaching me to rely more and more heavily on God in my own brokenness.
This semester my classes prompted me to spend long hours thinking of, writing about, praying through questions about the poor, about war and violence, about the sacraments, about prayer, about sex and marriage and celibacy, about anger and grief, about ecstatic visions written in ancient Hebrew, about the intense joy found in worship and song, about utter dependence upon God. And I can see even more of Christ as the Healer, the Lover, the Priest who restores us forever to our God.
At this crossroads, I just want to pause and thank God for leading me on this good road. Left to my own devices, it is never a road I would have chosen.
