Gethseminary

For some reason, just as I was waking up one morning some weeks ago, I had the mash-up between “Gethsemane” and “seminary” that is the title of this post pop into my head.

And then I read a piece in the Chronicle about the educational power of discomfort. It was not specifically about seminaries, but about the struggles involved in learning and in being confronted with the challenges to our views and preconceptions that are part of anything worthy to be called “education.”

And now I am visiting Israel with students.

I hope that the experiences that students have while visiting Israel – including some students who are seminary students and some who are not, and including a visit to Gethsemane – will provide that kind of challenging discomfort that will lead to growth and learning.

That will be my prayer, literally offered in the Garden of Gethsemane…