farewell/tribute

If you've been following my posts over the past months, you know that many of them have been responses or reflections to the ideas and writings of my theology professor. He is leaving his current position and taking a job at a university in Norway so our seminary community is compiling a book of farewell/tribute letters for him. The following is my contribution. It includes some thoughts on how the past two quarters of study have impacted my life. I thought I'd share it here. Following that is a link to his faculty info (if you'd like to find out more about this guy).

--
Dr. Shults,

It is with sadness that we bid you farewell. The past two quarters
have been some of the most reflective and challenging months of my
life. Thanks to your lectures, your books, and your ideas, I have
spent long hours pondering things like truth, goodness, and beauty.
God has come alive in a very real way as I have been challenged by new
ideas and new ways of thinking.

One of the things I value most about these past two quarters is that
what I've learned is not simply content. If that were the case, I'd
walk away (as with most other classes) retaining some things but
forgetting a lot of it. New categories of thinking do not go
away...and this I think will be a blessing and a curse. Ready or not,
I'm stuck with this new perspective. It will impact not only further
study and contemplation, but my ministry and life as well. Indeed, it
is delightfully terrifying!

Thank you so much for your dedication to the Bethel community and for
sharing your passion in ways that have changed my life.

Darrin
--

http://seminary.bethel.edu/stpaul/faculty/shults_f.html