Doing Life
As a part time LC employee I get to “do life” with LC students and youth at Madison Heights Baptist Church. What does a weekend in the life of a campus pastor/youth pastor/mom/ wife/doctoral student who is married to a minister look like? After a full Friday of meetings and one-on-ones with student leaders, I actually had a stay in night with my spouse (a truly rare thing). Saturday began early with a trip to a local church that was having a yard sale and a trip to the community market for produce for the week. After a trip to the big box retail store we snatched some lunch before heading home to pot plants. I then attempted to make contact with our oldest who is graduating from seminary in a couple of weeks. I reviewed my syllabus, contacted my professor to make sure I was on track for my summer class and rejoiced in an e-mail which stated my theological case study is due in June. At 5 p.m. I made my way to LC to participate in the Passover Seder (which was so very wondrous to be a part of), getting home around 10 p.m. Sunday began early with a morning of “church things” with disciples of all ages, then back to LC for InFaith Community worship. I then returned to church for a meeting, led youth group, and attended our evening service which featured our church children. On the way home I called our youngest child who is making wedding plans, and we talked for almost an hour. What? Last weekend after a full week I took our middle school youth on a mission weekend in Fredericksburg. This was an easy weekend.
I am not alone. Our campus was hopping this weekend as we celebrated the legacy of our phenomenal dean, hosted Westover Alumni, served as home field for athletic events, welcomed the community for Passover and celebrated life in many ways yesterday. Our community members studied for finals, finalized thesis details, completed projects and presentations, participated in end-of-semester activities, attended orientations/meetings for leadership positions for the coming year, and searched for jobs/internships. We are a busy people.
In many sacred texts there is some type of invitation to the faithful to intentionally seek an audience with the Sacred. Often the invitation/call/command begins with a call to stillness, suggesting a prerequisite to communing with the Sacred is a halt of activity. In the Judeo Christian sacred text there is a call for daily Sabbath, time for rest and worship. A study of the text suggests forsaking Sabbath prevents humanity from experiencing the healing (re-creation) that comes from time spent with the Sacred.
Application? If we want to be able to navigate busy, tense, stressful schedules, we must be intentional about time with the Sacred. We must breathe and meditate, study the sacred texts, and commune with Sacred Divine. We must keep our bodies healthy and consume proper nutrition and hydration. We must wrestle with balance and understand that reason and faith are partners in our quest for academic excellence.
As we head towards finals I invite you to tarry in the Dell if only for a bit. Note the placement of Hopwood and Snidow Chapel. Visually (and intentionally I might add) they are positioned across from each other reminding us of the partnership between faith and reason. May that knowledge refresh, empower and compel us towards the finish line.
Be blessed,
Katrina