Confessions of a Seminarian

Stargazers and white lilies…

…with red accent roses, were the flowers in my sister’s wedding bouquet.

When I consider the depth of meaning of my sister’s wedding bouquet and the way I feel when I gaze upon a simple rose, I am blown away by the thought of God’s glory. The same occurs when I take in the stars and all that they shout at me as I feel so small and insignificant when compared to the night-time sky.

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rest the rest

I love to water ski.  I was a kid when my Grandma first taught me how to ski. Don’t laugh, she’s pretty tough, and she herself was skiing well into her 70’s.  I hope I am like that when I am that age.

Anyway, with water skiing, she taught me that there are all sorts of rules to follow to keep from falling. Keep the front of the skis pointed a little inward. Don’t pull on the rope. Keep your knees bent a little bit. Don’t lock the elbows. Don’t lean too far back or too far forward. Don’t try to do too much.

But the most important tip in water skiing was to rest on the skis, and let them do their work for you. They’re meant to support you.

I think about this every so often, resting on those skis. There’s a unique feeling in graduate school, and I suspect, in the remainder of life as well. We can all relate to the feeling that even if we could foresake sleep for days on end, working nonstop on different projects and challenges, we would still never be finished. It never ends.

Ever.

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What’s Glory Got To Do With It?

Long before I believed in any kind of a God, I would ask Christians why God supposedly created us, and why we should believe in him.  I (predictably) got what I thought was a cop-out answer:  “to glorify himself,” or “for his glory,” etc.  I always wondered why such a “loving” God would create humanity, and then watch us spiral into chaos, all to glorify himself.  It sounds really selfish, doesn’t it?  Since I have become a Christian, I have avoided that answer as much as possible.

Now, I do believe that God loves us and seeks to glorify himself, but I do not see the two quite so juxtaposed as I once did.  I haven’t really been able to figure out why, but I think that the last week or so in my life has illuminated my understanding.
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