Back from the Seminary Onground Intensive

Day 25 with no in-house internet—later I will turn my phone into a hotspot for a brief moment to post this and to do Morning Watch on my Florida church’s Facebook page, which I’ve been doing since the earliest days of Covid. Then I will be back to a familiar post-hurricane routine: how many of the activities that require internet connectivity can I get done at the office? We’re supposed to have unlimited hotspot access at some point, but I don’t know how long it will be before that help ticket gets processed. It may already be processed, but in case it’s not, I need to save that bit of connectivity for my seminary class that meets tonight.

Yesterday’s journey back across I-40 was a sobering reminder of how much worse it could be. Sure, I began the day by boiling water, but at least it’s clear water, so I can have a hot shower later—some people still have water with so much sediment that they can flush toilets but not use the hot water heater. I still have a house where I can boil water and sit in safety, with electric lights and heat.

Yesterday’s trip across the mountains was much better than the one I had a week ago. Of course, I left at 5 a.m. to better my chances of having a better trip. Back in the before-hurricane time, I had planned to come back on Saturday, thinking I would need to go to Bristol to preach on Sunday. When it was clear that roads would not be clear by yesterday, I made the call to send in my sermon. I stayed an extra day because my folks were in town, and with my sister in Maryland, we had a mini-family reunion.

A week ago, I’d have been getting ready to make the drive to the seminary campus in DC for the onground intensive. I didn’t leave quite as early because I thought the traffic would be lighter because of the Monday holiday. Friday turned out to be the easiest commute. Traveling back and forth to campus every day made me very glad that I don’t have to travel back and forth to campus every day.

It was good to be on campus having in-person discussions. It was good to go on a field trip to the Museum of African American History. Our Biblical Storytelling class benefited from being together to have the experience of performing in front of a live audience. And of course, I enjoyed the return to the campus itself—I saw a few faculty members and friends from the time when I lived on campus and took classes.

But I don’t know that I would do an onground intensive again, especially not if I had the kind of job that would require me to take vacation/leave time to do it. I can accomplish most of the same things by way of virtual classes meeting in real time, and it’s less disruptive. And of course, there’s the cost (of travel, of lodging, of food), which I almost always forget to factor in.

This week, I need to help my Spartanburg Methodist students back on track. I have a plan, and I will be gentle with us all. One day at the intensive, I was startled to realize how little time there is left, what a gaping hole in the schedule we have had. I tried to keep my attention focused on the seminary class I had traveled so far to take, but it was an effort.

I imagine that much of the next two months will be like that: trying to stay focused on the task at hand, trying not to be overwhelmed by all that is still left to do. Of all the things that I thought might disrupt my jam-packed schedule, I did not think it would be the remnants of a hurricane blowing through the North Carolina mountains!