The Fuller Magic - Seminary Days in Pasadena

As I walked around the Fuller Seminary Bookstore today, I was taken back to memories of how I used to light up inside and feel a surge of excitement and energy as I walked around and flipped through rows and rows of books. I felt like a kid in a candy store--and I wanted to eat it all up.

Today, the bookstore served a more functional purpose...simply a place to buy my summer course books. I am changing. I now only buy the minimal books I will actually read...and am more interested in listening to the lectures on MP3 through an online course rather than showing up for a class and doing the assignments. I used to love to this stuff, what happened? And where did all the magic of Fuller go?

When I was an undergraduate college student, I used to long for the day I could take seminary courses. I would make secret Thursday night runs to the McCalister Library and sit in the basement until closing, reading Church Growth books (early 90s)...stroll around in the bookstore reading Missional books (late 90s) and Leadership Development books (early 2000s)...and sit in the prayer garden dreaming and praying for the day I could sit in my first class. It took almost 10 years for me to finally enroll in my first course, and interestingly the majority of classes I've taken focus on Spiritual Formation. My interests have developed and been refined overtime. And so too have my reasons for being here.

The magic is still here for those who want to receive it. For me, my priorities are changing. And so too is the Fuller Campus--they knocked down the prayer garden...and have left it a pile of rubble.