Much Better

For every moment that stressed me out yesterday, today had one that was totally awesome.  Jessica had forewarned me that Dr. Kreider, professor of Intro to Theology, was super amazing.  She was right.  I am already committed to taking as many of his classes as possible throughout the next three years.  I mean, the guy made a nearly three hour long class continually interesting, and I didn't once get tired even though class started at 7:45 a.m.  How is that even possible?

Well, probably because Dr. K is authentic, passionate, dryly hilarious, and intimidatingly intelligent.  He made us listen to two songs in their entirety, just to prove that popular culture is willing to engage in discussions about theology, and also because he just loves music.  He has a tendency to say things that rock my world, and I'll probably devote upcoming blog posts to those ideas specifically.

After class I went to chapel, and a former president spoke.  He is quite old now, and he had to use three reading aids to see his notes.  He spoke very slowly, and his hands shook.  His mind is sharp, and he quietly and slowly told us about aging and Ecclesiastes, how people tell Christians how to die but not how to live those last few years of diminishing capabilities.  He made me love DTS, for a group of people who did not know him as president but who gave him a standing ovation, for a chaplain who chose the man's favorite hymn to both open and close the service, and for the patience and attention offered this wonderful man who might have been written off in another setting.

It's quite nice to have a built in lunch hour, and today was especially wonderful.  It was nice enough that I could sit outside in the shade without being hot.  I talked to Roy for a while, and then Laura happened by, so we ate and talked together.

Then I had my first counseling class!  I loved my theology class, but yesterday during Bible study I thought, "Three years of this?  Really?"  I love studying the Bible, but the potential to become a sheep, bleating out seminary vocabulary and stuck in high concepts for years at a time (though, admittedly, the professors don't want us students to be that way, either), anyway, it was all a little daunting.  And then I remembered:  I'm here to study counseling!  That was a relief.

I liked the class, thankfully.  It's a basic course on how psychology and theology interact.  Already I am confident I'm in the right place (for me, definitely), because Dr. Barnes discussed at length how we cannot address someone's problems without first considering their physical, medical, social, psychological, and spiritual concerns as well.  It is tempting, he said, if you are an expert in a field, to treat everyone as if they needed help only in your area.  That is when Christian counselors treat depression as the result of unresolved sin when actually it is a hormone deficiency or medicine side effect, etc.

I love learning.  I am still getting used to the work load, and setting aside hours each night to read.  But I love learning.  So it's worth it.