Saturday, April 10, 2021

Ten Weeks of Charging Towards Change

It was only 10 weeks ago today that I first heard about the Theology and the Arts track at Wesley Theological Seminary.  It was only 10 weeks ago this week-end that I first explored that website in depth.  

What a lot has happened since then!

I do wonder if future me will look back on these 10 weeks and wonder how I had the energy to do what I did, much the way I look back on the months back in the 1990's where we got ready to move to South Florida.  Current me is a bit amazed at the way the pieces have come together.

Ten weeks ago, I had applied for the opening at the main campus for which I thought I was qualified and had a good possibility.  But on March 15, I found out that someone else had gotten that job when I read the school-wide e-mail congratulating people on their promotions.  If I hadn't already applied to Wesley, I'd have seen that e-mail as a sign.

The application was somewhat more involved than the ones for most graduate programs that I've explored, although I didn't have to take the GRE again.  I did have to provide 4 letters of recommendation from very specific types of people:  my pastor, another person working in the church, a professor or employer, and someone who knows me personally.  I had to fill out an electronic application, and I had to write an essay.

The process for candidacy was even more involved:  an online application, an even longer essay, 2 letters of recommendation, 2 congregational forms, a financial worksheet, a personal health inventory worksheet, an interview with one of the 4 people the Synod has chosen to do initial interviews, and a whole battery of psychological tests and interviews.

Even now, I am somewhat amazed that I have been able to get all of this done.  I'm fairly organized, so that helps.  And I love to write, so that helps too.  Throughout the years, as an administrator and a teacher, I've had to put lots of similar information into a variety of forms, so that part wasn't as daunting as it might have been.

I want to remember how pieces have fallen into place with what feels like very little effort.  I've had years where I've worked towards a goal and met obstacle after obstacle--at some point, I begin to wonder if there's a cosmic message I'm not understanding.

I do realize the danger in this thinking.  Just because the progress is easy or isn't easy, that's not necessarily a sign from God.

I've been thinking about working on an additional degree for decades now--some years, it's an MFA, some years a PhD in theology, some years an MDiv.  But as I've investigated the possibilities, it's never felt like the right time--until now.  

There are still some variables, of course.  But they don't seem overwhelming at this point, the way they have in the past.

I do wonder if this past year of pandemic has been a factor.  In some ways, yes.  I've had a variety of friends making choices they might not have made if the pandemic hadn't forced them to think in new ways; I'm thinking primarily of all my friends ow have moved.  Seeing this process has made me think in new ways too.

The pandemic has shaped my way of thinking in other ways too.  I've always been aware that I don't have all the time in the world to accomplish my goals.  The pandemic has not only reinforced that idea, but has also reminded me that there can be many unforeseen variables, which has led me to a carpe diem mindset.

I'm excited to see what the next 10 weeks will bring--and the next 10 months, and the next 10 years.  I know that I will look back on these past 10 weeks as a turning point.

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