Midterms

Well, our last midterm exam is tomorrow and then we'll all be ready to breathe a sigh of relief! Last week we had our midterm exams in Greek, the Creeds, and Spirituality for Ministry. On Monday we turned in our 8 page term papers for Church History and tomorrow is the mid-term for Old Testament. Then we get about 4 days to relax and start getting ready for finals in early December.

As a first year seminarian, at the mid point of his first term, I think I can safely say that seminary is not a sprint! This is definitely a marathon. This morning we took a break from studying for tomorrow's test to review some mission work opportunities that are coming up. The key to a successful missionary project seems to be advanced planning... so we are working on a trip to either Costa Rica or Honduras in the summer of 2011. It is weird to think that two years from now we'll still be here at Sewanee, especially since so many of our friends will have already graduated and be serving in parishes all over the country. It's like we're continually waking into this dream of seminary and future ordained life that for so long seemed so far away.

Midterm brings to mind another aspect of seminary: Christmas Break. It's getting so close that we can taste it. As much as I am enjoying seminary, I am so looking forward to going back to Jacksonville for a few weeks! I have heard from other students that when you go back everything is different. I think that will be partly true for us; someone else is living in our old home, we don't have the same jobs, we don't shop at the same places anymore, etc. But, I think that the love and fellowship that we shared with so many wonderful people in Florida will remain unchanged. I do believe that absence makes the heart grow fonder and I can't wait to go home.

My final thought for this midterm post is about prayer, particularly intercessory prayer. We spent about an hour discussing the concept of prayer for others today in class, especially praying for God to act decisively in the lives of others. I felt very well prepared for this discussion because intercessory prayer is a big deal in the Christian community at my home parish of St. Andrew's. When I say "big deal" what I mean is that St. Andrew's believes in the POWER of intercessory prayer and lives out that belief in regular communal and personal intercessional worship. I learned so much from my brothers and sisters there about God's wanting us to bring all our troubles and fears to the altar and to actively ask for and expect help. At St. Andrew's they taught me that God answers every prayer and that there will always be healing; sometimes it's physical, sometimes spiritual, often it is both... Jesus taught us to pray and ask God for help in all we do. St. Andrew's showed me how to pray for every situation by praying in every situation.

blessings and peace,

Jon