This past week I was in South Carolina for final exams at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. In many ways it was an unremarkable week. On my way down this past Lord’s Day, I stopped and supplied a pulpit at a PCA church in Hancock, Maryland. Monday was Hebrew: I got up early to study all morning, then took the exam after lunch. Monday night I studied for both a Contemporary Theology and a Medieval Church history final. Tuesday afternoon I took the former, and Tuesday night continued studying for the latter. Wednesday morning was final cramming for Medieval Church History, and I took the final after lunch. Wednesday evening I went with my hosts to the prayer meeting at the local OPC, and Thursday I drove home.
These are the bare facts. Yet there was so much more to this week than bare facts. Let me take a few moments to single out just a few. Firstly, there was my Hebrew final. I love Hebrew, but it is a challenging language and I did not have much time to study Hebrew prior to my trip. Thus, I fairly fretted the outcome of my final. What could I do? I resolved to get up early on Monday morning and study as much as possible, and meanwhile I prayed that the Lord would open my mind to the language. I believe God answered this prayer in an amazing way. As I sat down to work through the translation exercises Monday morning, things clicked for me in a way that they had not during the semester. It was overwhelming: the grammar and vocabulary were sticking in my mind, and I was able to get through all the of Hebrew Bible translations prior to the exam. In fact, when I sat down to take the exam in the early afternoon, the translation portion of the exam was a section of the very translations I had worked on that morning! God is good.
Secondly, the ability to study with my friends and classmates for the Medieval Church History final proved outstanding. Talking and working through the notes together, we got all the material for the final exam condensed from almost thirty down to ten pages. Not only was this final study guide superb, the process by which we prepared it helped instill much of the material in my mind. As a result, we all ended up doing well on the final.
Thirdly and most importantly, there was some outstanding fellowship. One of my classmates and his wife were gracious enough to put me up - or “put up with me,” as my wife put it (jokingly?). This was so much better than staying in a hotel: not only did the two of us get to study together for the two exams we had together, I got to get to know he and his family. This was really great, and we hope to be able to host them for a visit in Pennsylvania sometime this summer.
All in all, it was a great week and a great way to finish the term. At this point (only two days hence), it is still hard for me to believe that the stress is ended. Likewise, I have not yet had time to percolate fully on all that has happened this year. Being in seminary is a lot like being a pot of stew: there is heat, things are bubbling up from within, and one is subject to a constant stirring - both mentally and spiritually. It is fatiguing, yet one grows from it. I have not yet sorted through it all, so let me end with just two general observations. Firstly, this year has convinced me that seminary is not simply the means whereby God fills one’s head with ministerial information; it is also and equally the means whereby God forms one’s ministerial character. Secondly, this year has shown me just how much I do not know - and thus the extreme importance of being humble and teachable.
Study, stirring, forming, humbling, teaching: God is always better than I deserve. I am so thankful to him for bringing me hence, and I am so thankful to my church family for being his hands and feet in providing the means. Year one, the end.