A Very Grateful Thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving break just around the corner, I finally get the opportunity to relax from all the usual stresses of being a seminary student and take some time—FINALLY—to write another blog post. And in the typical Thanksgiving fashion, I want to take the time to reflect on what I am thankful for.

The past three months (my-goodness, has it really been that long already?!) of my first semester at Princeton Theological Seminary has been a roller coaster of a trip. It hardly seems like that long ago I was packing my car as a new college graduate to drive off for the next chapter of my life in New Jersey! But yet, here I am.

I can say I have successfully weathered the scare of the initial first months of the dreaded introductory courses (i.e. Old Testament Studies and Systematic Theology [or Early & Medieval Church History, for those who chose to take that instead]) usually recommended for Juniors/First-Year Duals to take. And I am finally getting into the groove of what it is like to be a graduate student at such an institution as this.

[For those who are unaware of the terminology here, a typical M. Div. at Princeton takes three years to complete, so the grade levels go as follows: Junior, Middler, Senior. The exception is for those who choose to be Dual Degree students and want to get an M.A. on top of the M. Div.; this program lasts four year, so the terminology simply goes: Dual 1, Dual 2, Dual 3, Dual 4. I fall into that exception category.]

On top of that, I have survived not only the seminary’s Bicentennial celebration—a swarming of hundreds of alumni and friends from all over converging on our quad (lawn) for a week—but also the hurricane that immediately followed it. Fortunately, Princeton literally weathered that storm far better than many of those around us—really only a few fallen trees and some downed power lines cutting off our power for about a week to worry about. We continually offer up our prayers up to those who still must recover from that harrowing ordeal.

But despite all of that, from even the very beginning one of the first things I was struck by was how grace-filled seminarians are here. I do not know if it is just the humbling feeling of being a part of such a prestigious institution, or if it is the sincere hearts of compassion from these passionate followers of Jesus that makes such controversial issues (usually) seem relative and not so controversial. Possibly it is a little bit of both, but either way it does not matter to me.

It would seem that no one is questioning what an openly gay man is doing in seminary—which is so refreshing! And, after the safety from the hurricane, that is the second thing I am so far thankful for this semester.

Then, of course, come my friends. I cannot begin to describe how much more difficult it would have been for me if I had not had those close friends around me to support and encourage me on! They are a group of upper class students, and yet they graciously invited me into their group. Again, I cannot express how thankful I am for this.

And of course, lastly, I could never forget my family. Without them I never would have gotten to where I am right now. And I can honestly say I am grateful for the love and grace they have shown me after I told them I was gay. Unfortunately, utter rejection by one’s family is not as uncommon is we would like or hope for it to be; but thankfully my family did not contribute to that awful reality of SO many gay Americans still today!

So, as we enter this holiday season, these are the things that I am currently most grateful for. And I believe I have been blessed by each one of them. Hopefully my life will continue to be blessed by, and be a blessing to, those around me in the future. May God bless us all!