30 Days of Thanksgiving, Day #16: My friends from Seminary of the East

Today my thoughts of thankfulness take me back to the mid-90s and my years as a student at the Conservative Baptist Seminary of the East in Dresher, Pennsylvania, where I studied and earned the Master of Divinity degree.

It was much, much different than my experiences at PCB in the early 80's. The classes were smaller, the work harder, and the friendships, in some cases, deeper. I vividly remember the first Tuesday morning class: Old Testament and Hebrew, taught by Dr. John Worgul. I was "blown away" intellectually in the first hour, and began to wonder if I had made a terrible mistake.

Later that afternoon, while sitting in another class, I glanced out a window and saw something I will never, ever forget. Dr. Worgul, the brilliant professor of Hebrew and Old Testament, who read from his Hebrew Bible as easily as I might read Dr. Seuss to my children, was carrying two large garbage bags across the parking lot to deposit them in the dumpster. How strange and out of place! He, the brilliant scholar, doing the work of a custodian? "My brothers, this ought not to be!" I cannot remember learning anything at seminary that was more important than that. No matter who you are, or the degrees you hold, or the intellect you possess, you are never too important to serve others, even if the task itself appears to be "beneath you."

At SoE, I made some great friendships--especially in our "D-Group" (small group discipleship group). Though our paths since leaving SoE have led us in many different directions, including all the way to Alaska (Kurt Habecker!) those 3 years of Seminary were some of the most important times in my life, and the friends I made there, both students, faculty and staff alike, have had an enormous impact on my life. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for giving me that experience, and for bringing those people into my life.