Whoa. Lots of Reading. Did I mention the READING??

So I'm already behind in the posting-often deadline I set for myself, so I'm going to reset and say that I'm going to try and do it every Friday, after the week of classes. And thus I can now say this about all four of my classes...

Dear Lord. There is so much to read.

And I read fast, and well, and I enjoy it, but OH MY GOODNESS. It's actually a very good thing that I am taking the train to and from class, because even though it takes about two hours each way (including walking), that's really the only time I study, unless Katie is taking a very good nap. And I've needed every moment of those 5 hours a day to get it done. It's about a thousand pages of reading a week. Roughly.

And actually, I've already had a moment in which I've thought "this is impossible". And that was, in fact, confirmed by both senior students and my adviser, who sadistically signed me up for BOTH of her crazy classes. Don't get me wrong, AWESOME classes, Hebrew is an amazing language and I don't know why we don't literally teach it in Sunday School, it is THAT necessary to a fundamental understanding of the Old Testament and the culture/times in which the scriptures were written...but I digress.

Beth said that she had intentionally assigned more reading than was possible, because as a pastor, this same thing will happen to you all the time so-you'd-best-get-used-to-it-now. And she wasn't kidding.

But so far I've managed. Granted, it's only a week into classes...but hey! I'll take my successes as they come!

I really like my Ministry Studies class with Prof. Dennis (I totally have a theological crush. He thinks your church is dead unless it's actively engaged in the pressing issues of the community. <3 ! ) Even though it ostensibly has the lightest reading load, it also has a large 15 page research paper due at the end, and you'd-best-start-writing-that-now-so-he-can-tell-you-how-you're-wrong-in-the-drafts-first. But it's also quite personally challenging. The focus of the class at the moment is on the idea that you can't possibly be a good pastor unless you've dealt with all your emotional and personal baggage first, and here is a convenient list of the baggage you probably have. Now start unpacking.

I've realized that I likely have a few myths working in my life, most notably the myth of the Superwoman (who'd have guessed??) and even the Myth of the Loner (the idea here is that you secretly think you can do it alone, or that you don't really need help from others. I've been aware of this one for awhile, but I hadn't realized that it really was important that I deal with it now.) Anyway, it's very challenging and Prof. Dennis has done an amazing job getting me to rethink (again) about the moral ground I stand on when I benefit from the institutionalized White Privilege in this country. Oh, so much to do...so much to think...

Anyway, if this has a time stamp on it, you can tell I need to go to bed--I just had to update though before the next week started. Think good thoughts for me; this week 3 out of 4 classes start their weekly quizzes!

Love and say a prayer for me,
Marie