You know you’re a seminarian when you’ve been dreaming about the Deuteronomic and Priestly sources of the Old Testament—or should I say, the OT. Though my seminary experience began just a couple of weeks ago, my daily routine here at Yale Divinity School, and the Berkeley Divinity School at Yale, has begun in earnest and my days have already been taken up with various worship services, evangelism meetings, student journal meeting, spiritual direction groups, intramural sports teams, and, oh yeah—classes! Most wonderfully, despite my newness to the area and the school, I have an overwhelming feeling of being “at home” here. The feeling of welcome has not only been extended to me, but to our whole family as well. My husband and kids have been invited into the community with open arms—Noah and Aristotle have made themselves right at home! Furthermore, we have all found new friends in the people we have met so far.
Along with the greatness of opportunity and blessing that has greeted me as a student, has also come commitments and responsibilities that a typical graduate student would never be expected to fulfill. A typical weekday for me begins at 7:30AM for Morning Prayer, followed by coffee hour and a short hike up the hill from St. Luke's chapel for classes at 9:30AM. There is, at mid-morning, another opportunity for corporate worship in the ecumenical Marquand Chapel. Between these two options, a student had better be at one or both of these nearly every day! I’m not sure who, but someone’s watching! While some grumble about the inconvenience of this, or worry that their encroaching coursework and reading will not allow for daily attendance at worship, I find the expectation to be much more a blessing than a trouble. While coursework will change from semester to semester, and the burden of mounting readings and papers will ebb and flow throughout individual semesters, the consistent frame of chapel and community worship will always provide a spiritual home and a beacon of our hope as seminarians to come together in the glory of God, and of God’s son, our savior, Jesus Christ. Recognizing that such statements are easily made in the absence of final exams, term papers, and impending application deadlines, I hope at those times to remember that we are continually called to renewal in the sacrament of the Eucharist, and that it is precisely when we feel we have the least time to spare that we most need to come to Christ’s table. Recognizing this tendency, we pray:
Deliver us from the presumption of coming to this Table for solace only, and not for strength; for pardon only, and not for renewal. (emphasis added) Eucharistic Prayer C, Rite II of the Book of Common Prayer (p. 272)
Amen.
glad you and your family is doing well. we had chapel 3 times a week at my undergrad place and while it got annoying at times it really was refreshing only for us we knew who was watching we had to swipe id when we went haha
ReplyDeleteYou are bookmarked and I'll be checking in every day. I seriously doubt that you'll be posting every day, but I'll check anyhow.
ReplyDeleteGail, I probably won't post everyday, but I'll try to update a few times a week. I'm glad to know you'll be checking on me. I miss everyone at St. Mark's. I'll send a link to my post to Beckie to put in the bulletin so everyone else can check in if they like, too.
ReplyDeleteMarissa, we don't have to swipe our ID, but I think we have to formally write out how many services a week we intend to attend, and then be held accountable to it at the end of the semester. It's funny, really, since most of the people here want to become priests--you wouldn't think you'd need to twist anybody's arm.