an irony of theological education

One of the ironies of theological education (or at least in programs like the one I'm in at Westminster) is that you have to set your own theological questions, issues and struggles aside during the semester because all of your intellectual energy has to be devoted to meeting the demands of your course load. If you're at all like me, this state of affairs can put quite a strain you as you find yourself harboring questions of (seemingly) great personal importance, having to ignore them for the time being and getting on with the business of seeing how other men answered entirely different questions from your own. It can leave you with the sense that what you are studying is pointless and, what's worse, it is preventing you from pursuing the things for which you are truly passionate.

For my part, I've found my theological education thus far to be more valuable than I ever could have imagined. But, nevertheless, my time at Westminster has stirred up more longings than it has satisfied. But, then again, perhaps theological education is supposed to be all about stirring up longings....