The Masters of Divinity degree should widen the borders of faith exploration rather than dig tunnels with provincial vision, giving one the tools for further inquiry into the layers of belief as opposed to finding satisfaction on the surface to tell what lies beneath. I was told early on that seminary would utterly challenge and force me to re-evaluate my personal tenets of faith, and the notion continues to excite my hopes and fears about going deeper into the unseen.
I do not know yet how this experience will affect my future career, be it in the ministry or development, a combination thereof or something radically different. Yet I feel that seminary will help me interpret and share with others the events and people I have seen here.
Right now the challenge is to behold what is in front of me: the girl younger with me taking care of children, both of her womb and her parents; the woman selling vegetables along the street to pay for her children's school fees; the man waiting outside the tin gate each morning, hoping that today the factory will choose him for the day's labor and he can return home to feed his family; the boy without shoes walking home from school in a torn uniform to study on the dirt floor by lantern light.What has become of God's Creation-dom? Where is the love of each other individually and as a race made in God's image? How do we rectify or make sense of the horrific images we receive with the hopeful dreams we envision?
Already I have been practically challenged with Jesus' words, "Do you now believe?" I want to add a little bit of theory to the mix, sharpening my mind and softening my heart in preparation for a world of hurt, angst and despair.
May God's grace water
the seeds of hope sown deep
within our being,
that we might
outwardly share our
divine gift of love
with others.
Have Hope. Be Brazen. Love Loudly.
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