Thursday, November 02, 2006

Good Things Happening at Seminary

I have to say we are more then half-way through the semester, and this experience has been such a blessing so far. It's seems funny to me that people have a fear of losing their faith in seminary. I guess I can understand where that could come from, but for me so far this has been nothing but a spiritually enriching experience. I have met amazing people, had the most amazing discussions, and even learned a think or two in class. Yes, there is a ton of reading and work to be done. And yes it can be overwhelming, and yes there have been a few times when I have said to myself why the heck am I here, but even in all that it has been a joy.

I simply can not get over the depth of the conversations we are having. Especially conversations on race. Race is almost becoming a four letter word around here these days. Particularly for the non-minority students. It sound as though they feel as if they are being blamed for actions that they had no control over. It is true they had no control over them. I agree we need to stop living in the past. But that is not to say that we should forget about it either. Being at Drew has allowed me to see so many side of this conversation. And has allowed and encouraged me to embrace my biracial heritage. To not have to hide or favor one side or the other.

I was struggling very heavily that identity for a very long time. The struggle is by no means over, but not I have realized it ok to feel uncomfortable. Along with that it is ok just to say this is ME, this is Who I AM, I can't change it and I don't want to change, and I don't need to fit into a constructed racial identity. I think that if we would stop trying to put people in boxes as a way to understand them we could make progress in our ( the world's) discussion on race.

4 comments:

John said...

One of the best things about seminary is that you can have conversations that you never could have before. It's usually a safe, mediated place to talk about the things that we never talk about face to face.

John said...
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gavin richardson said...

i think seminary is scary for people who haven't already challenged their faith within their life experience up to that point.

i know vandy down here trys pretty hard to give you such a broad perspective that one really has no other choice than to have the foundation rocked a little, but i consider that to be a good thing.

glad you are having positive conversations, it's what i enjoy and refuels me where i am at.

MicahGirl said...

May seminary deepen your faith and grow it! My seminary experience did for me. However, the biggest challenge I had was not looking at the bible as a textbook...