Newborns and toddlers (especially in combination!) really do hinder the study of theology in the traditional academic fashion. What mother of preschool children has time to read scholastic works, let alone make cohesive comments on the internet about them? Sometimes I get a little depressed thinking about it. I started a great commentary on Revelation back in the spring. . . the bookmark is still there in chapter two. My eschatological ponderings have wandered off into an apocalyptic explosion of diapers and dishes. Most of the books I've been reading are short on words, big on pictures. (Wait, maybe I'm on to something . . . an illustrated theology series perhaps??)
All of that to say, I must remind myself that theology, the study of God, is not limited to academia. God is the same God in the kitchen and the classroom. And if what is said in the classroom cannot apply to the kitchen, then maybe it's not worth saying? Don't get my wrong. I love theology. But I love God more. And I'm learning to pray like never before, because it is more important to be connected with Him than to thoughts about Him. I'm learning to look for him, especially in the unlikely places. (I'd love to hear Luther or Barth or NT Wright discuss theology after a day at home with the kids, wouldn't you?) This is a different kind of degree I'm pursuing, and that's ok.
And when the fourth consecutive reading of The Little Engine That Could is complete, and the children are both (miraculously!) asleep, then maybe I'll dig out that commentary again . . . Who am I kidding? I'm having a nap!
~lg
