December - A Month in the Life of a Seminarian

[Philip Mayer]

Greetings and happy new year, from snowy Wisconsin. I'm writing you
from a warm little apartment encased in ice-cycles, some of which have
grown nearly ten feet long and become as thick as my leg (note: this
may be a slight exaggeration).

I can hardly believe that it was this past summer we shoved all of our
belongings in Massachusetts, into our little hatchback and drove
across the country to Nashotah, Wisconsin to finish my last year of
seminary. It was but a short time past when we first pulled into our
parking space at Sheridan 4C on the campus. Our car was so full that
it looked like a water balloon ready to burst (as Melissa likes to
say)! Since that time, I've sat through many a lecture, read books,
wrote papers, made presentations, spent hours in the library, enjoyed
new friends, attended the twice daily chapel, preached numerous times
at a local church, rang a 1,000 pound bell which lifted me off the
ground, led a weekly youth group, assisted with the opening of an
ecumenical ministry committed to aiding the poor, swung incense in the
chapel, helped begin and plan a contemporary worship service for the
campus, ate sausage and eggs every day in the refectory, and joined
the Nashotah House Student Council. Looking back on the semester
always amazes me, though the rearview mirror is much more enjoyable
then the windshield when looking at the oncoming semester and the
mountain of responsibilities which always loom like a semi truck
approaching to engulf me.

For Christmas, Melissa and I drove to Michigan to be with my family.
Every year on Christmas Eve, everyone gathers at my parents' house for
dinner and presents. The thirty-something people create a crowded, but
exciting atmosphere every year to kick off the Christmas season. I
enjoyed seeing many of my aunts, uncles and cousins. We were glad to
be able to join the occasion, since Melissa and I assume that this
will be the last Christmas in Michigan with my family. Next year, if
God is willing, I will most likely be working full time as a priest in
Florida and will be quite busy with all of the Christmas services at
the church.

A large chunk of my Christmas season this year will be spent
vigorously researching and writing. I've been spending the last few
days collecting together books for the General Ordination Exams that I
will be taking, beginning tomorrow (Jan 2) and ending on Saturday (Jan
5). These grueling four days which begin each day at 9:30 AM and end
at 5:00 PM, will test my two and a half years of seminary training, in
preparation for ordination. I would very much appreciate your prayers.
Then on Sunday (Jan 6) at four in the morning, I and others from the
seminary will load into a minivan to travel down to New Orleans to
assist the area still suffering from the aftermath of Hurricane
Katrina.

Melissa is still working steadily away as a teller at a local bank.
Apparently she's well loved there, having received a host of gifts
from the various folks with whom she works: her manager, loan officers
and the other tellers. How is the poor seminarian's wife to respond
when she brought only her gift for her Secret Santa? Of course, you
know the thought that jumps into your mind when these things happen,
"Oh, no I didn't get that person anything. I wasn't expecting a gift,
now what am I to do?" Though, I suppose it's good for us to learn
humility by accepting the generosity of others.

After much prayer and discernment, we have decided that Melissa will
be leaving the bank sooner than we initially planned, so that she has
time to complete her thesis project in order to obtain her Master of
Arts in Religion. Next semester she'll be spending a majority of her
time in the library as well as interviewing people to develop
curriculum for a women's bible study based on a theology and
spirituality of the human body, a topic God has placed on her heart to
develop as a tool to help others integrate their bodies into their
spiritual lives in a healthy way--an important issue in our body and
weight obsessed culture.

Blessings to you during this Christmas season -- don't forget, we're
still only on the sixth day of Christmas, there's another six yet to
go. A man by the name of Athanasius wrote an eloquent book on this
amazing miracle of God taking on human flesh. If you get the chance,
it's a great read titled, On the Incarnation.

"To us a child is born: Come let us adore him."
Philip N. Mayer

phil....@gmail.com; 407-409-8913; philipmayer.blogspot.com
Nashotah House Theological Seminary, 2777 Mission Road, Nashotah, WI
53058