February - A Month in the Life of a Seminarian
Philip Mayer
made it through all twenty-eight days of February. One day the frozen
water was so thick on the car windshield that I might as well have
been chipping away at a granite carving with a plastic fork.
A couple of weeks ago we had the excellent opportunity of pet and
house-sitting for a family in our church while they went to Antigua
for the weekend. The place was huge with fireplaces, a sauna shower,
maids that came nearly every day and even an outdoor hot tub that was
kept at 104 degrees! If you could bear walking across the icy snow in
your bare feet (which we did) the pool of steaming water was waiting
to melt you like a marshmallow in hot chocolate. Oh, and I was even
allowed to use the Audi-heated seats and all! What a grand little
blessing from God for Melissa and me.
However the big news of the month is that on February nineteenth, I
boarded a plane and flew to Florida for a rigorous week of meeting
with the parish discernment committee from the church that is
sponsoring me for the priesthood. The week went well. The structural
design of the meetings created an excellent atmosphere for in-depth
questioning and discussion of my life and ministry. Though I had known
some of the folks on the committee for quite a while, others I met for
the first time and so our first assembly consisted of a light evening
of conversation, laughter and enjoying a meal together. The second
meeting, like the first was an enriching time of relational building
as we went around the room and shared our stories, our struggles and
triumphs. It was a heart-felt gathering even bringing tears to some,
and an eye opener for me to have the privilege of being able to be
part of the lives of some wonderful people. There could not have been
chosen a finer, more thoughtful and caring group of folks with whom to
complete this part of the process toward holy orders. Also during the
week I was able to help out with the pancake dinner on Shrove Tuesday
and assist in a church workday on Saturday to clean out the attic and
I enjoyed getting to better know some of the folks on the committee in
a different and less formal setting. The last few meetings involved
many questions about my life, calling, gifts, and theology, past
ministry experiences, strengths and areas which are in need of
improvement. It was a challenging but excellent and extremely
beneficial experience.
Now I am back in Massachusetts with my much missed wife. She would
have loved to come to Florida with me if she could have obtained the
needed time in the midst of school and work commitments. Yet, now we
are back together. And so I am back to studying theology and assisting
at the church and enjoying the many good people who God has given us
as friends here in New England.