Words
of wise counsel were given to me by my step father when I was a child. He said,
“Don’t take yourself too seriously.” Because I tend to take myself and
everything else too seriously, this was important for me to hear.
During
my time in the Navy Chaplain Corps (1983-2008) I was selected to attend
post-graduate school. This means you attend a school of higher learning to
study at the doctoral level for one year. My field of academic endeavor was
Pastoral Counseling. The school was the School of Theology at Claremont (STC), in
a suburb of Los Angeles. I had a wonderful time that year (1990-91)! Several
moments stand out as I reflect back. Allow me to share them with you.
Prior
to the school year beginning, I was asked to speak at a conference of my
denomination in L.A. I shared how I was tickled to have been selected to attend
post-grad school at STC. After my talk I was approached by a number of church
members telling me that they would be praying for me while I was at STC. I
noticed that many of them appeared to be very concerned for me. STC is known to
be a very liberal school in every way possible. I chose to attend there because
it had the highest academic rating nationally. So I divined that these dear friends
in Christ were concerned that I might somehow wind up being influenced, and
thus change my views to conform to the liberal view of Christianity. I laughed at
the absurdity (they obviously didn’t know me). I challenged them to pray for
the school because I intended to proclaim Jesus there!
In
August of 1990, Iraq had invaded Kuwait, you may remember. The United States
then geared up for war. The faculty, staff and many students of STC decided to
engage in a protest march. Well, I wanted none of that, so I decided that since
I was on active duty while attending this institution of higher learning I
would wear my uniform to school one day a week throughout my year there. My
purpose in doing this was to visually remind them that American men and women
were putting themselves in harm’s way so all of us could live in liberty and
freedom. No one ever said anything, but I definitely upset their sensibilities.
One
incident that is etched in my mind was during a class discussion on various
theological conundrums. All the students were sitting in a circle of chairs. I
was warming up to my subject, waxing eloquent to my fellow doctoral students. I
was on a roll! One gal was sitting directly across from me with her arms folded
across her chest, glaring at me. I had no idea what was troubling her. When I
finished she spoke right up, stating in no uncertain terms, “It really offends
me that you refer to God as he!” I blinked a couple of times, collecting myself
for a response. I smiled (further infuriating her) and said, “I’m sorry if my
reference to God in the male gender offends you. However, I have it on very
good authority that God sees himself as male. No less of an authority than
Jesus himself said in Matthew 6, ‘When you pray, pray in this manner: ‘Our
Father who is in heaven . . .’ If Jesus had said, Our Mother, then you would
have no argument from me. But he didn’t say Our Mother – he said Our Father.”
She had no comeback which ended the discussion. I later had an opportunity to
minister to her through some personal hurt she experienced in a relationship.
Toward
the end of the school year (in another class) each student was required to give
a ten minute synopsis of their term research paper. On the day I was to give my
talk, sitting there waiting my turn, I spoke to the Lord and asked him to help
me get through to these students who viewed me as an alien from some far
distant galaxy. I often felt that they looked at me like I was a science lab
project. “Oooh, look! It’s a conservative! I wonder what type of species he
is?” It was now my turn, so I stood up, smiled at the class, and said, “It may
surprise you to know that I’m more liberal than you would imagine. However, I
am far more conservative than you’d ever want me to be!” The class burst out
laughing uproariously. I glanced over at the professor. She was laughing so
hard I thought she might fall out of her chair. It broke the ice, and I was
able to present my talk to a most receptive and transformed audience.
And
yes, I completed my doctorate from STC. I had a great time doing it, too!
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