Editorial: Reflections on a Super Weird Semester
Many of you know that Wilmore, KY experienced a great move of God in the first week of the seminary’s semester. This “revival” or “outpouring” was much more (and much different) than anything we could have prayed for or imagined. For many, it was a wonderful, peaceful time of encounter with the God who is Love. However, the remainder of the semester has felt very harried by comparison.
Just before the outpouring hit its first full week, I found out that my mom’s dad had passed away. Our relationship with him had been complicated by a moral failing in the pastorate that dissolved his marriage to my grandma. Regardless, just hours after the intercollegiate day of prayer at Asbury University, I found myself on a plane to Syracuse. I did Hebrew homework until my family picked me up, and we drove to central Ontario.
I had never envisioned the strangeness of interpreting the death of a distant (physically and relationally) loved one in the face of a great, healing move of God. With the drop I experienced in temperature came a drop in my spiritual high. Just a week and a half before this funeral, God’s presence was thick in Hughes Auditorium. Now, I was desperately looking for evidence of God’s grace in a place where the virtues of the deceased were lauded even though his vices still caused great pain and confusion for my mom and her siblings.
In many ways, I wished I had not made the effort to go to this funeral. There was lots to do for school, and the whole thing left me feeling worse than anticipated. However, God’s grace was apparent throughout that journey. There was a frigid-but-gorgeous sunset when we arrived at our family friends’ house. I got to run and walk on a beautiful country road surrounded by snow-covered fields (something I miss when in Wilmore). Several people acknowledged how complicated our emotions must have been, and we had time to process our cognitive dissonance together. As wonderful and terrible as February had been, God was still present, still good.
The rest of the semester was a whirlwind after that. I had jobs to do and assignments to complete. It felt like my world was falling apart again when a spat of cataclysmic scope surfaced at my beloved undergrad. Social media blew up, and both parties were failing to be Christlike in many ways. Once again – no surprise – God’s grace was present on that campus and among my fellow alumni at ATS.
“God’s address is at the end of your rope.” Dallas Willard’s wisdom proved true for me this semester, and I think several fellow seminarians would agree. In precisely those moments when we knew we couldn’t go on, God provided the needed strength. May the loving God provide His people strength as we face the uncertain days ahead.
This article is by Julia Hotchkiss, Alumni Office Student Worker.
Much wisdom in your honesty here, Julia – thanks for this!