First Day of Class!

Actually, the first thing I should mention is how difficult it was to come up with a title for this blog. After many failed attempts (including "Commuting for Jesus" and "Seminary Rock!") I decided to simply pay homage to Matthew Gilliland's goodbye note on my giant posterboard; "Rock that Seminary" seemed a good command and title. Those with complaints may direct them to Matthew.

As for the occasion of this post, it's pretty self-descriptive: today was my first day of class! And for class I had what appears to be (at least judging by the reading list, class size, and the number of seniors who had put it off for as long as possible) one of the more difficult and rewarding courses offered. I have high hopes and expectations for "Intro to Old Testament", as taught by my advisor and Hebrew professor the Rev. Dr. Beth Tanner. (Side note: I would love to be a Rev. Dr. I have often joked with my husband that I'd like a nameplate that reads "The Rev. Dr. Mrs. Kathryn Marie Mainard O'Connell, Notary Public", but I digress.)

I'm not sure whether I should expound on the class itself, or just the experience as a whole. The evening started with worship at 6:20, which was a suprise for me as I thought that worship was still in the middle of class, around 8pm. But it lasted for almost an hour, and involved a great reading and sermon by the President of the Seminary on the topic of holy ground--and the singing was FANTASTIC. I felt like I could really cut loose and sing loud and proud--and was surprised to hear a distinctly southern gospel voice coming out of me, complete with accent and sliding between notes. It was lovely and freeing and after communion (on a Wednesday-weee!) I felt totally pumped up and ready for class.

And the excitement was very good, as I think this is going to be a very interesting class. I really like Prof. Beth, as she seems to seek to make the class as challenging as possible for each of us on a personal level. Her whole focus isn't just on the historical events within the Old Testament (or First Testament, which I rather like!) but the theology, storytelling and relationship that the authors are trying to share. I almost feel like my lack of religious training is almost a boon here, as I may be approaching the Testament with a little less baggage than usual--of course, I'm also not nearly as familiar with the text as my classmates, many of whom can quote whole passages without blinking. I tend to blink a lot as I fumble with the very thin pages of my brand-new NRSV Study Bible With Apocrypha (you won't use the Apocrypha in class, but is highly recommended that you read it, as Prof. Beth did the translation!).

There are no less than 5 required books for the class, 3 recommended books for the class, and one journal that you are encouraged to start (I plan to). It appears that there is between 150-250 pages of reading per week, which as I was told, "Shouldn't be a problem unless you're also taking Church History, in which case you'll be reading a lot. Or Hebrew." This is often said (at least three times to me tonight alone) with a crafty smirk on the face of the knowing speaker, and a look of appropriate horror on the face of the recipient (me).

I am taking all three of the above mentioned classes. Insert big, buggy eyes of horror here, as a visual of the amount of reading I will be doing. Did I mention the 4 page paper due next week? Actually, that's cake and I'm not worried about it, but I definitely feel that I have lots of work ahead of me and no lack of reading material.

In fact, I also discovered that not all of the 19 other full time students are taking 16 hours of classes (that's four 4 credit courses), some of them only have 12 credit hours! What?! And to top it off, Prof. Beth told our class "in fact, those of you who are my advisees may have noted that I didn't sign you up for both Old Testament and Church History if you have a full time job." HEY! I DO have a full time job--I'm a stay-at-home mom! Whatev. I'm going to rock this seminary. I can't wait to start my readings. In fact...I think I'll go read my first assignment now!

Thanks for reading, and say a little prayer for me!
Much love always,
Marie