New Term

Well, the new term is under way and we're all doing great. It is such a relief to be a second-semester seminarian! Classes are great, everyone is rested and ready for work (mostly!) and we're so much more settled in to the ebb and flow of seminary life. It really is nice.

On the other hand, a lot of my new friends are seniors and they are already starting to interview for jobs that will take them far away from Sewanee. It seems like we just met and now they're gonna leave... A few have already been ordained as deacons, which makes it easier for them to find jobs since they can be ordained as priests as soon as they get to their new churches. One of my favorite seniors, who is now a deacon, told me that ordination changed him permanently and profoundly and then asked me to give him another few years before I ask him what exactly changed "permanently and profoundly." Being a first year seminarian, you feel like you'll be in school forever, but the truth is that it's over almost before you know it.

It is weird how isolated we can be here at Sewanee. Most of us didn't know about what happened in Haiti for a few days after the first quake. It's not that we're cut off from the news, it's just that we're very busy and you get into a habit of not knowing what's going on in the outside world. I am pleased that the news did not fall on deaf ears and there has been significant fund raising throughout the campus community, but it still seems striking to this former suburbanite that I would so quickly fall into communal habits of isolation.

My final comment is that our baby Joshua had his first birthday a few weeks ago. What a wild ride that has been! Having a baby in your late 30's is so different, you really appreciate all the changes and (hopefully) growth that have taken place in you and your spouse. It's been a incredible blessing to have another shot at parenting a baby because we've had so much fun and worried so much less this time. When I think back to how paranoid we were with the first two kids, I am amazed that they aren't in therapy, yet...

blessings from the Mountain,

Jon