Tuesday, February 12, 2008
So what happens now?
I don't have a good answer for this question. No matter how often it's asked of me. Many changes have occurred over the past few months that have put at a doorstep of uncertainty. 

So I'll share what I do know with certainty. Three and a half years ago I began the spiritual and academic journey of seminary. Back in December that journey ended, and I graduated with a Master of Divinity with an academic focus in Old Testament studies.

The plan of action following that has been application to four schools with Ph.D. programs in Ancient Near Eastern Studies or Hebrew Bible. I visited two campuses. One was a really great experience. One wasn't. The word from each of the programs is that March is the earliest I'll hear whether I'm accepted. There were also a pair of fellowships for which I also applied. 

In addition to all this paperwork, I also applied to be a probationary member of the Oklahoma Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church as a deacon. For the past three years I've been going through the process as a certified candidate for ministry. This is the next step, and a pretty big one. It involved distilling just about everything I learned in seminary in 50 pages. So, while school was finished in mid December, I didn't escape the pressure of producing until a little over a week ago.

So what happens now? Waiting. And more waiting. I'm not good at that, but for now I must practice it. In the meantime, I work full-time at the coffee shop, and I was just promoted to a supervisory role. You should come visit. Once the neighborhood thaws out a bit (last night there was about three inches of snow followed by ice and sleet), I hope to hit the streets, hopefully with camera in tow, ready to meet the neighbors and see where God is working in these streets of the Oh-5. 

I wrote about my first encounter with Joe several months back. Joe died of liver failure just after Christmas. He drank himself to death. It's a sad thing. He's not the first such casualty of this community, and far from the last.

Labels: ,

posted by Peter at 10:08 PM
| | permalink |