Smart enough for now

It could be said that I became part of Luther Seminary when I began writing stories for the seminary's Communication Office in June. And if not then, when I started my summer Greek course in July. And if not then, last Tuesday, for the orientation week. But today, I absolutely officially started seminary, as fall semester classes began.

I had three courses this morning. It started at 8 a.m. with Hebrew, continued at 9 a.m. with my Synoptic Gospel: Luke course and, after chapel at 10 a.m., wrapped up with a history course called Reform of the Church. Monday and Wednesday mornings are going to be busy for me.

But so far, so good. Although the first day, like high school and college, pretty much consists of reading syllabi, there appears no reason to panic. The instructors all seem to be reasonable, even likeable and entertaining. And more importantly, the curriculum doesn't seem to be over my head.

I can't say I really expected this stuff to be over my head, at least not this early in my seminary career. But since arriving at Luther, I've been uneasy sometimes about my knowledge base when it comes to all this God stuff.

My foot in the door has always been my dad. As I've grown, I've gotten to see him in action, hear a lot of great sermons and observe how he communicates with people as a pastor. And he's always been there to answer my questions about God, the Bible and that whole huge scheme of things.

But compared to many other incoming students who have had religion courses as an undergrad, I'm kind of a lightweight. My education on the Bible hasn't extended far beyond Sunday School. I took the only religion course (Science and Religion, actually) available in my undergrad years at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. So I feel like I'm in the dark when I hear my peers, even those three years younger than me, talking theology.

The good news, I suppose, is that this brings me that much closer to the people I'll be serving. In his sermon at today's chapel, Seminary President Rick Bliese cited a recent newspaper article that noted a continuing drop in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's nationwide membership. President Bliese's explanation: Lutherans don't like to get in arguments about religion, and they don't like to talk about their faith. And at root of that, they probably don't know much about their faith. They often don't know Jesus' words.

I certainly don't know all of Jesus' words, and I'm not the most outspoken about my faith. That's nothing to boast about. But in a world like today's, so many people can't make the time or stomach the attention to make it beyond that level. One major thing that I value about my choice of university and brief career in journalism is that it helped me get closer to people in everyday situations. Lately, I've sometimes wished that I would have spent more of my time in religious study, but I know I've gained some real-life experience that will make it easier for me to associate with many different people once I become a pastor.

And one thing I've realized is that people have so many things competing for their time. I'm like them in that way. Jesus just hadn't been a high enough priority, and I realized it was time to change that. Seminary is finally giving me, personally, the time and attention to learn all these things about God. It's a chance many people won't get, and it will be up to me to show people why Jesus is worth their attention at every moment of their lives and to guide them in their own learning as they, too, grow in faith.

Thankfully, I think I've got the basics down: that as God loves us, we should love one another, and since Jesus died for us in the greatest display of God's love, we don't need to fear death. And I think with that, I'll manage.

But I've got a lot of growing to do — even catching up to do — in my faith and in my learning. And on that note, enough with the blogging for tonight. I've got studying to do.