The Beginning of the End
This is it. My final year of the MDiv program has begun. It is with mixed emotion that I begin the journey to the end of my degree. The end is now, finally, in sight and now that I see the end, I begin to dread it.I realized over the weekend that I have become part of a family. As I sat with my cohort and we shared and cried and laughed and ate and prayed I realized that I love these people, despite my better judgment. This strange group that was thrown together just two years ago has become my family. Bill put his arm around me during worship on Saturday afternoon and as I lay my head on his shoulder I realized that we are truly bound together, this cohort and I, with a love I had never before known. Bonhoeffer's Life Together has become my reality, and not just a good book. I am a part of a divinely ordained community. I am part of something so immense and so intricate, so challenging and so rewarding, so beautiful and so painful, that I can hardly comprehend it. And the beauty is I do not need to comprehend it, I only need to live within it, embrace it, and enjoy it. I have become a part of something extraordinary. Already I am beginning to mourn the day when I leave this loving family.
Yet, I rejoice. I am so excited to see what this year brings. New faces arrive and familiar loving hearts remain. And I cannot wait to be surrounded by them for a year. This is where I belong, living this life in this community. While I may not be able to stay here for much more than a year, I know that I will belong with and to these people in some way for the rest of my existence. And I cannot imagine a better place to belong.
posted by CT @ 8:02 PM
2 Comments:
Alright, so I'm a really bad friend because, if I remember correctly, the last time I talked to you was January! Even as life seems to have slowed down a bit, I still find myself busy trying to catch up with everything I have neglected for the past months. Or maybe I have just been plain lazy. If you haven't had a family member die or gone through a major tragedy I have probably not emailed you since last year. But even if you had, I wouldn't know it because I have lost touch with one of my dearest friends in the world--you! I love knowing that even though we haven't talked in so long, we'll be able to pick up where we left off. I promise to write soon. I have much to share!
Julie
P.S. Chris Tomlin is mine! Are we going to have this same argument again? ;)
Good luck with the last year, my fake sister. This whole community thing you've got going sounds nice. Soothing.
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