When I think back to reflect on what will soon be the completion of my first year at seminary - finals begin today and conclude Wednesday morning - I’m amazed at how well the opening line to Charles DIckens’ novel A Tale of Two Cities is an applicable description.

It  was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

There were times that made me humbled. There were times that made me want to run back to North Carolina as quick as I could. There were times that made me laugh, others that made me want to scream and shout in frustration and anger.

What follows are my reflections looking back on this first year, which I’ll admit has flown by. They are just my thoughts and my way to look back and look forward.

Perhaps the hardest thing for me was getting used to leaving one community and joining another. I’ll admit I didn’t want to leave North Carolina. As much as I knew this is where God needed me and wanted me, I came hesitant, perhaps even wishing that Duke would call and ask me to come there instead.

That call never happened. I’m glad it didn’t. For what I’ve learned in the past nine months about myself, about God, about others has inspired me in ways that I don’t think any other school could do. This was the right place for me.

I’ve learned more about the Bible, especially the Gospel of Matthew. I know about the struggles of the early church now. I have a deeper understanding of personal holiness and serving others. I know how to do an exegetical paper and what a dipthong does in relation to other letters. A detailed observation is not scary, nor is a Rule of Life. I have a better understanding of redemption and how the message of God’s love is clear throughout the Old Testament.

And I’m grateful for all of it and more.

But there are the personal lessons as well.

It was reaffirmed to me that I’m on the path God has ordained for me. It was reaffirmed to me that I need to do a better job appreciating that fact.

I realized that sports analogies on a seminary campus are not easily comprehensible to the vast majority of people.

I realized that no matter how bad you want something to work out, sometimes it just doesn’t to no fault of anyone.

I’ve realized that I need to do a better job of setting boundaries for myself to protect not only those around me, but also myself.

I’ve realized I worry too much about being something that I’m not. Though that worry causes me some of my biggest stress.

I’ve realized mistakes and bad decisions will happen in ministry. It is how your respond to those mistakes and bad decisions that will determine how you move forward in life and in your relationship with God and others.

I’ve realized that I have a great group of friends that amazed me so much by their love and support. I only wish I was a better friend to them.

I’ve realized that I need to know the meaning of the word “no” and use it more often.

I’ve realized that as great as Wilmore is that it can be quite depressing if you don’t try to leave every now and then.

I’ve realized that I’m not who I was, to use the Brandon Heath’s song, but there is certainly a lot of room for constant growth.

I’ve realized that I’m too hard on myself. Wait, I knew that one.

I’ve realized that all people ask of me is to be myself.

And I’ve realized that a hug and laugh go along way.

So that’s year one. There is at least two and a half more years waiting for me down the road. They will be challenging. They will test me. They will grow me personally to new levels of devotion and love for our Lord. And they will send me on a road and a life that I never imagined for myself three years ago, but here I am humbled by it all.

There is a lot going on in the world, the country, and life in general, so here are an assorted collection of thoughts on them all:

It’s beyond understanding, to me, how far dictators will go to remain in power. We are seeing evidence of that in Myanmar where it has taken 10 days for the country’s military leaders to accept aid of any kind following a cyclone that has killed 100,000 people. In face of worldwide political pressure to do the right thing and let countries send the well-needed aid, Myanmar’s leaders have all but said “we’ll think about it and get back to you.”

My word. People’s lives are in danger and the leaders of Myanmar are going to have a pow-wow to talk it over. Seriously, folks, this one is beyond my understanding.

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Today, Hillary Clinton will win in a landslide in West Virginia. She will likely post a 20-point win and gain a vast majority of the state’s delegates to the Democratic convention.

Clinton will likely claim that she has momentum going into states like Kentucky that still hold primaries. She will claim she is the voice of the working people and paint Barack Obama as the elitist candidate.

She will try all of this, but it will be for not. Obama’s lead all but guarantees him victory in the nomination process.

Clinton is free to continue the race as she wants, just as Mike Huckabee was free to continue the race for the Republicans. However, Clinton will not be receiving the nomination regardless of what happens today or May 20 in Kentucky.

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The University of Southern California is in the news, again, for allegedly giving athletes gifts and money.

The first allegation was against Reggie Bush and claims of taking more than $280,000 while enrolled there. Now it looks like future Lottery pick O.J. Mayo has gotten in on the act. ESPN is reporting the USC star has received more than $30,000 in gifts.

I would be more shocked had Mayo not received any gifts while at USC.

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I’m really excited about this summer. I received information yesterday about who would be serving with me in the hot summer sun. I’m really blessed with the collection of talent we have on this site. We have a returning employee who worked at the site last year. We have a youth ministry leader who just graduated from college. And then there is myself, the utility player trying to keep the site sane.

I’m really excited for this summer. One of the things I told my staff yesterday is that I really want to see them grow in what God has for them this summer. I’m really looking forward to seeing where each member of the team is on May 26 compared to where they are at on Aug. 12.
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And what would be a good blog posting without some bad Youtube video to get you through your day.

This there is no way I can do. No way.

This song will just make you think. I think.

Today, I voluntarily took myself to the doctor.

This is something I don’t like to do. I don’t enjoy going to the doctor as they usually enjoy charging me high prices to tell me I am sick. That and I don’t like all the poking at my sides.

But, I couldn’t help it today. I’ve been having symptoms for the past few days that had me concerned I was showing early signs of this or this. So you can imagine my thrill when it was only this.

However, I wasn’t happy with my weight. I think the stress of the past few months have taken its toll on my body. So, I’m even more pleased with where I’m going to be working this summer - humidity, no McDonalds, and lots of work.

I’m setting some serious goals for myself. I don’t want to live my life constantly thinking I’m going to have some life threatening disease because of my weight. Plus, I’m not as attractive to potential people as I should be. Hey, when you’re 28 and single, it’s an issue.

So here’s to the final week of the semester. When it’s all over, Operation Wrestling Weight beings. This time … I’m going to be serious about it.

I love to travel, but this could be ridiculous. In a period of 14 days, I plan on traveling 2,100 miles. That’s right 2,100 miles. And yes with these gas prices.

Friday I’m leaving the friendly city of Mayberry around 9 or 10 a.m. That puts me into Raleigh-Durham around 7 or 8 that night. Saturday I’m spending the day studying for Introduction to Old Testament in an undisclosed location. I’d tell you, but I don’t know where I’m going to be, likely Panera in Chapel Hill. Sunday, it’s morning worship and SPRC meetings at my home church. Then it’s 8 hours on the road to the friendly city with an expected return time of 10 a.m.

Next Friday, I’m traveling back to West Virginia for the weekend, with a pit stop for breakfast in Richmond, Ky. That may actually had a few miles to the estimated odometer, we’re not sure. Then it’s three days in West Virginia relaxing, visiting with my family, and sleeping.

Memorial Day, I jump on a flight - yes, you read me right I’m flying again - Charleston, W.Va. to Birmingham, Alabama (with a layover in Cincinnati) to start my summer with YouthWorks.

And in case you’re wondering, and I know you are, the average gas prices of these areas in which I’m visiting with car:

Beckley, W.Va. - $3.89

Charleston, W.Va. - $3.79

Wytheville, Va. - $3.63

Chapel Hill, N.C. - $3.77

Last night, I’m a local, popular bookstore. By local, I mean I drove the 20 minutes to Lexington to go to a bookstore.

Anyways, usually when I walk around the bookstore I’ll gander at some of the books, contemplate buying something, then realize I’ll never finish it, and then move on to another store (most likely Best Buy.) This time something was different. I blame seminary professors forcing me to read for the past nine months.

Actually, I want some recreational reading for my down time this summer. So, I picked up 1776 by David McCullough, an oldie but a goodie. I may take a leadership book or two that I have lying around the house that I’ve never finished. I’m not much into fiction. I want to learn something when I read. Call me a nerd, it’s OK.

So all this being said, I’m open for suggestions on the second book for the summer. Leave your suggestions in the lovely comment box below.  My only request is that I stay far away from theological books for the summer, except for C.S. Lewis (whom I need to read before I graduate).

Barack Obama is planning on declaring victory on May 20, win or lose.

Hillary Clinton is in West Virginia claiming she has more white support than Obama and thus is more electable in November. Of course, we’ve all seen this quote by now:

“I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on that found how Sen. Obama’s support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me.”

Welcome to the Democratic Party train wreck. In a year where the Democrats were all but given the White House on a silver plater, a long worn out primary process has placed what should’ve been a blown out victory for the blue team into a legitimate race in which Republican John McCain now has a serious chance of winning come November.

And the longer Clinton stays in the race the more it helps McCain.

Here’s why.

Obama has to contend with Clinton, just as McCain had to contend with Mike Huckabee. This prevents Obama from turning financial resources to the November race and concentrating his efforts on McCain.

Also, the Democratic Party has to go through some sort of healing process, similar to what the Republicans had to go through when it accepted McCain as the nominee. The difference is that the Democrats have to be unified well before November. In my estimation, it takes a good month to two months to heal a party divide. Assuming Clinton takes the race all the way to June 3, which she is allowed to do, it would mean the party won’t be unified before its convention. That’s never a good thing.

The longer Clinton remains in the race the more attention is placed on the fact that votes in Michigan and Florida did not count in the primary process. Clinton believes the votes should count. I’m sure the voters in Michigan and Florida do as well. Not seating any delegates to both of these states is a huge slap in the face that will come back into play come November.

Clinton is not going anywhere. It’s not in the Clinton DNA to quit, but in the process they have broken the unity of the Democratic Party as evidence by exit polls Tuesday saying many Clinton supporters will not support Obama.

This race is a long way from being over. It should’ve been over Tuesday and really it was. But as long as Clinton is in the race, the game continues. There just may not be anyone in attendance except for herself much longer.

I’m fairly fond of The Register-Herald in Beckley, W.Va. It’s where I received my start as a writer working part time in the sports department. I learned a lot about what you can and cannot do as a writer working for that newspaper.

However, an editorial published in today’s paper might be the worst that I have read. Not because it tells faculty and others at WVU to move on and that WVU President Mike Garrison is not going anywhere. It is poorly written in that the argumentative style is not one you would expect to find in an editorial, but more like a heated discussion in which the one writing feels as if he has to defend himself for his views.

Take for instance this statement,

Hopefully, Monday’s session made those members of the faculty feel better. They got up in front of their colleagues and the media spotlight, many denounced Garrison and referred to the academic crime that was perpetrated and that WVU’s image would be tarnished until the president stepped down. They can keep on with the criticism as long as they want, but they better get out the silver polish to rub out the stains because all of their verbalization still isn’t going to change the name on the desk plate at Stewart Hall.

It’s uncalled for to claim that faculty used the meeting Monday only to seek the media spotlight. It shows a complete lack of understanding of higher education and faculty. For faculty, academic integrity is the most important thing for an institution. I cannot disagree. (Sorry, college athletics are not everything on a college campus.) Faculty had every right to make the moves that it did, regardless of how it voted. What has been wrong is the treatment faculty at WVU have received from the state’s political leaders and in this editorial.

A black eye, sure, but black eyes heal.

This is more than a black eye. Institutional situations like these force faculty to leave. Sure, you may argue that faculty are easy to replace and who wouldn’t want to teach at WVU in the mountains of West Virginia. What many learn when they make those statements is that some professors are hard and if not impossible to replace, as my own master’s degree institution has learned.

Perhaps in time the faculty and alums will move on. However, media in West Virginia must understand and begin to understand that this is a serious charge that was levied against WVU and its academic leaders. It’s reputation is soiled and it may take years for it to recover in the eyes of its peers. And that’s just not something you can “spit out the bad taste and move on” about easily.

West Virginia University’s faculty Monday voted overwhelmingly on a motion that calls for WVU President Mike Garrison to resign in the wake of the Heather Bresch scandal that has rocked the academic integrity of the institution.

The vote was 77-19 in favor of seeking Garrison’s resignation and declared no confidence in the new president. A vote of this magnitude, while true it holds no official barring on Garrison’s future, puts to vote the fact that Garrison has lost the respect and the trust of his faculty.

It’s hard to recover politically from a vote to that degree. But, Garrison thinks he can. He has told media outlets following the vote that he has no intention of resigning. Garrison quotes the support of W.Va. Governor Joe Manchin, Bresch’s father, and the Board of Governors as the reason he will not resign.

This is hubris at the extreme level.

In a written statement, Garrison said he received a “clear message,” but another one from the obvious clear message from faculty members that believe it is time for Garrison to resign. He said,

The essence of all the motions presented in the Senate today contains a clear message: we at WVU must work to create an environment that assures everyone that this will never happen again.

Garrison has no choice but to resign. His administration cannot be trusted to restore the academic integrity of a great institution. It was his administration that awarded an MBA to a politically connected student when she did not earn the degree. How can the faculty, alumni, or anyone else trust Garrison to rebuild the academic standing in that situation?

Should West Virginia University ever recover it must do so with a new president, one that is committed to academic integrity and honesty in governance. That will not happen under Garrison’s watch.

I grew up wanting to be a sports writer, maybe even take a stab at politics, or even - as my mother will tell you - be a game show host. (Hey, I enjoyed it when USA would air game shows from 8 a.m. to noon just about every day. Those were the good days.)

Never did the thought of being a pastor - or even someone who gives sermons occasionally when the pastor is on vacation - ever cross my mind. It just wasn’t something that I consider.

Now, there is no doubt in my mind that this journey that I’ve been on for the last few years is the right one for me. If I had any doubts, any at all, they were all wiped away yesterday after delivering my first sermon. I’m still awestruck and humbled by what took place yesterday. It felt natural. I was comfortable. And I felt as though this is what God has been preparing me for.

Sure, there were some awkward moments at first. Reading without notes is not something I’m prepared to do right now. But, it went smooth, shockingly smooth.

And yes, the congregation had nice words to say to me as they were walking out. But what means the most to me is what my grandfather said to me. My grandfather is not one to say things of praise. It’s usually through his actions that you can see that he is proud of you. He’s very old school in that. But, yesterday he looked at me as he was walking out and said that I did good and you could tell he was proud of me.

For someone who never met his father and has looked up to his grandfather in that role his entire life, that meant the world to me.

I’m sure that between now and the time I graduate in nearly three years I’ll have more opportunities like this. I think the church that I grew up in wants me to come preach in the fall, but I’m not sure if that will change now that there is a pastor switch.

Yesterday was a good day. It is a day I’ll never forget. As I mentioned before, was a full circle day. I think one story of my life ended and I think another one began yesterday. I think I’m more excited now about being in seminary than I had been before. Which is good, since I need that extra juice of excitement to get me through the last bit of the semester.

With this sermon behind me, I can really get to work on preparing for the summer and Bayou La Batre, Alabama.

Now, where did I put that sunscreen.

Faculty at West Virginia University will have their voice heard today regarding the on-going controversy surrounding the awarding of a MBA degree to a well-connected alum.

Members of the school’s Faculty Senate will meet in special session today with three motions on the table for consideration. Two of the motions would seek to place the blame squarely on the shoulders of the school’s administration, while a third would seek to put measures in place to insure academic integrity.

One of the motions would censure WVU President Mike Garrison for his and his administration’s involvement in awarding an MBA degree, last year, to Heather Bresch, an employee at Mylan, Inc., and daughter to W.Va. Governor Joe Manchin. Mylan, Inc., and its co-founder Milan Puskar, are among WVU’s top financial backers.

Another would out right call for Garrison, who took over for David Hardesty, to resign.

Should the censure motion pass, Garrison would have all but lost the support of his faculty, something that is important for an institution’s leader to maintain. Passage of the third motion would likely mean that Garrison will remain on the job and will be able to withstand the pressures to resign.

Needless to say today’s Faculty Senate meeting is important and could go a long way in determining the leadership fate at West Virginia University.