It was during my first three weeks living in Chicago that I first needed to send some letters. My history with the postal system began on a great note, but has had its rough patches. The USPS was there when I needed it. My TCU application (which was for my 2nd choice school initially – wow!) was postmarked in Breckenridge, CO on its last possible day. In spite of printing the application during our family vacation on my inket printer, the USPS delivered and I was fortunate enough to spend four years in Ft. Worth.

Well, at the beginning of my Chicago experience the USPS let me down for the first memorable time. Let me start by insisting that stamps normally don’t make a difference for me. Their amount is my only care. I don’t collect them; I don’t notice them on letters I receive; and, I certainly don’t try to make personal statements with them. Had I situated myself in my new environment for life, it wouldn’t have made a difference; but I was new and it made me insecure. The University of Chicago post office WAS OUT of flag stamps.

The only standard $0.39 stamps available that day were Ronald Reagan memorial stamps. The University of Chicago is famous for its liberal political tendencies and Ronald Reagan support; (that was another school down the road: Eureka College, Ronald’s alma mater). The panic of having to use these stamps while gaining new friends and situating myself was a nightmare. What if someone saw me? Would I need to deposit the mail by stealth in the box across the street? And if someone saw me, would I have to show my true political colors? While funny in retrospect, it took some time before I could always laugh at the stamps and the panic; even later that afternoon there was still some angst.

This past Tuesday it was the end of the era. My Reagan stamps ran out and I returned to my liberty flags. Quite fittingly, I paid some bills by it and gratefully dropped it into the blue box. Then, later in the week, I couldn’t find stamps. They were still in my drawer, but I didn’t notice them for a long time. Even though in plain sight, they didn’t stick out like Ronald’s portrait. It probably serves me right.

On a more serious note: I’ve reached another end of an era. This coming quarter will be my first academic term since high school that I am not doing a foreign language course. I finished my Greek sequence for Divinity School and I already know there will be a void. My classes for next quarter rock: the History of Christian Thought V; the Catholic Reformation; Women, Religion and Human Rights. Still, I’m going to miss the structured meeting of classes for language study. Many of my ministry colleagues and I will continue to keep our translations polished with each other, but this absence is going to create a real loss!

Another ending era appearing with a positive view of my language studies finishing: if I plan it right, I will never take another 8 a.m. class again. Language classes, introductory survey classes in college, and music courses in high school were the only ones cruel enough to begin so early. I can only look at the end of this era with mixed feelings: many ministers serving in congregations tell me their biological clocks adjust when serving full-time and mornings naturally become earlier.

It’s also a good time to break and realize it was a year ago this week that Daryl Schmidt, my Greek and New Testament teacher at TCU, died. The loss is painful even without my language courses ending.

…

The end of eras means the beginnings of others, fortunately. Janet Spittler, my University of Chicago Greek teacher is finishing her PhD and recently went through the job search process. Where did she end up? TCU! My smile was bigger than Reagan’s on the stamps when I found out. She and the TCU Religion Department are going to be a great fit for each other. She’ll be teaching the Greek program I learned from Daryl.

I’m struggling to come up with any new eras I know are beginning. I’m finalizing my plans for the coming summer’s activities. I hope it will turn out as I’d planned. Then again, there’s plenty of details left to finalize and that “era” is anything but a foregone conclusion. I’m also in the listening stage of choosing which congregation I will serve with next school year. Our ministry program trains students in their second year in the midst of congregational placements; I have my community selected, but we’re still several steps away from finalizing the commitment to the process.

On an completely unrelated note: many of you know I am addicted to watching podcasts. Podcasts are audio or video files automatically delivered through software (the most popular is iTunes). My previous favorite was PhotoshopTV. As it sounds, it’s a video program delivered weekly with training on using Adobe Photoshop (my favorite image editing program). My new favorite is worth everyone visiting. It’s called Mr. Deity (www.mrdeity.com) and is a series of humorous clips looking at theological beliefs. For some it will be so condescending it’s not funny; for me, it’s a nice release from the intensity of doing divinity school classes daily.