the ABC’s of seminary life

I found this piece in a little, often bypassed corner of my computer. The program was not even updated. This must have been written a year after I began my seminary assignment . . . probably ten years ago. It’s unfinished. Anyway, I’m sharing it with you if only to give you a glimpse of the ministry I’ve learned to love through all those years.

the ABC’s of seminary life


A - Aesthetic experience – viewing things the non-practical way. Sometimes we go through life without really looking; watching without really seeing. . . . to see in a drop of rain not just water, its use or its elementary components ... but the beauty of the world. The beatific vision will be a boring eternity when we have not developed the capacity to look at things beyond the practical.

B - Boogle – life is like a game of boogle – only those who are creative enough to see from different angles, wind his way through the maze of meaningless letters and see a word, depart from the usual track to discover new and unusual routes . . . win!

C - Celibacy and Cynthia – like tequila and coke they can become a good mix . . . when women friends accompany seminarians in this phase of discernment as co-discerners as to what God desires for them. But when each one becomes unconsciously possessive . . . wanting a claim on each other and each others attention, it is bound to become a tough experience. . .

D - Doing nothing – it seems that every time there is a vacant hour or day, we always think of ways to “fill it up.” And we trouble the prefect with our constant “may I’s” – which usually means SM, Gaisano, watch a movie, go home. . . with the usual “please don’t deny me” wicked smile, or accompanied by persistent coughing which miraculously stops when permission is granted. When will we ever learn to stay put and “do nothing?” Life is like a beautiful music. It is beautiful precisely because of the harmony produced by the notes and the rests.

E - Evaluation – evaluation is an acknowledgement of personal vulnerability. When one submits himself to be evaluated, it is his personal plea for help, a cry of disbelief in his present predicament and an expression of his firm belief in his human potential - as to what he can possibly become.

F - Fear – we could not avoid fear but we can transcend fear.

G - Going home – the most exciting part and one that is always looked forward to in seminary life. Well, as they say, there’s no place like home. But as one poet says, “one’s home can be anywhere.” No wonder, some seminarians list their address as Sara while they are actually from Passi . . . for “home is where your heart is at rest.” As for me, I am home.

H - Handel – I mean the turtle. There is a legend. It says that turtles used to walk and swim around minus their shells. They leave them in some convenient place whenever they decide to take a walk or swim. But some mishap in a turtle’s history happened,, some fearful event perhaps which made him decide once and for all never again to leave the security of his/her protective shell. And that explains why Handel carries around his protective shell even now when the cause of that fear is long gone. Legends may not be factual, but it teaches the truth - the truth about our fears, inner peace and freedom.

I - In love – some say that we “fall” in love. But some have the better sense to say that we “rise” in love. Love always elevates the person and the persons he loves to new heights. The quality of work, even the quantity of work, the enthusiasm, the manner of relating, the camaraderie, the interaction . . . all these rises above and beyond. When we put love into our work, things will always be at its best.

J - Jack in the box - a box of surprises. I received one as a gift when I was in my elementary years but it was not in a box but in a can of Pringles. And even when I was already in high school, Jack jumping out of the can had never stopped surprising me, though I had opened it for God knows how many times. Now I am given not just one but fifty-one. I know there are a lot of surprises there inside those boxes and they are waiting to be opened. “Now could the real Jack jump out of those boxes, please.”

K - Kindergarten – Robert Fulghum has a book called “All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten” . . . how to live, what to do and how to be . . . all learned in the kindergarten sand pile. “Share everything. Play fair. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess. Don’t take things that aren’t yours. Flush. Say sorry when you hurt somebody. When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together. . .” Now if we could just do what we have learned out of that sand box . . . I’ll be out of job. Who needs a prefect anyway?!

L - Locard’s Exchange Principle - I read this somewhere but I couldn’t locate it for now. Locard is a criminologist who believes that whenever a person enters the room he/she unknowingly leaves something behind and takes something away. If we extend this principle a little bit it would say – “whenever a seminarian passes through this community he unknowingly leaves something behind and takes something with him.” We affect each other in ways we could not fully understand . . . what good then can we leave behind . . .what will we bring with us?

M - Meditation – the Buddhists do it in a lotus position, the Hindus do it sitting on nails, seminarians (including me at times) do it by nodding their heads . . . how very profound!