I just finished reading (actually re-reading) Henri Nouwen's In the Name of Jesus. It's one of those deceptively simple little books that looks like a good read while waiting for your son to finish his guitar lesson, but in reality it runs over you like a freight train and leaves you wondering, "What hit me?"
Thank God for writers like Henri Nouwen, and for books.
In Matt Damon's and Ben Affleck's Good Will Hunting, bad boy Will, played by Damon, expresses derision for some aristocrati mama's boys from Harvard. He remarks that the ivy league education, which cost them countless thousands of dollars and an investment of four plus years of their lives, he'd gotten for $2.50 worth of fines from the public library.
Friends, I'm so grateful that God has carried me through my Masters of Theological Studies degree program, especially after spending almost 20 years in ministry before even starting it. It's nice to have the formal education and the degree to go with the OJT. I graduate this weekend, but God is not finished educating me. People ask if I'm going for my doctorate, and props to anyone who goes that route (and by the way, big props to any kid who finishes high school and then goes right on to compete a 4-year degree -- I didn't have the determination or the discipline to finish back then, so I really honor those young adults who do have what it takes!). But, regarding the doctorate, I really don't think I have another degree in me right now. And even if I did, at my age I would never make the tuition costs back in salary, not that the personal satisfaction of completing a doctorate wouldn't be worth much in and of itself.
Whether I go on with school or not (this is really the wrong time to be making such a decision), I'm definitely not done learning. There are still a lot of good books out there.
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