Collegium: Friday: Goodbye and hello

Collegium: Saying Goodbye, saying hello

I set the alarm for 3:00, I need to be on the 4:00 A.M. shuttle. However, I wake up at 2:30. I figure I can sleep on the plane and I shower and get dressed only to discover I read the clock wrong. It was 12:30, I had only slept one hour! I don’t want a repeat of last week when I missed my plane so I stay awake and read. Lord knows I got a bunch of good stuff to read.

When I go downstairs to check out there are three more journals for us to take home and read. Current Issues in Catholic Education and A Journal of Catholic Education of Inquiry and Practice actually look pretty interesting. My modest goal is to also submit something to the journals.

I get to the airport early, no delays this time. I fly from Portland to Chicago and then on to Fort Wayne. It is a long day but I have plenty of time to think. So, how was Collegium?

There were plenty of conflicting events. I cruised the Columbia River Gorge, I toured Portland, and I walked in the ocean. I made new friends. I also experienced the death of my dog and someone I care about was diagnosed with cancer and I was far from my family. And, still, still, Collegium was far more than I expected and I had expected a lot.

People were not dogmatic, people questioned, people were honest, people worshiped to the degree and in the style they preferred.

I read great material. I saw beautiful places. I spent a lot of time in prayer and contemplation. The campus was great, the rooms very nice, and the food fantastic.

However, the best was that the Collegium did what it said it would. It focused on integrating Faith and Reason. We had folks in the Social and Behavioral Sciences in our group. We had philosophers and theologians. However, we also had a geologist, a business prof and an engineering student. We were not limited to the Liberal Arts and the discussions valued empirical data, research and doubt as much as Canon Law, dogma and faith. Bringing it all together was great music, moving worship services and quiet time with others and alone.

So what now? It is time to keep reading, integrating and talking to one another. Then it will be time to take the material and the experiences to our schools. The folks on the East Coast are talking about a reunion. Well, we have enough folks in Chicago, Milwaukee, South Bend, Fort Wayne, Dayton and Detroit that we can also have a regional meeting. It can be a reunion from the “Heart of America”, if you don’t have mountains, deserts or oceans you got to have a cool name. . We can do this.

Finally, conversation is good. We can use this blog to share our stories. I do not have any personal photos posted. So please, send your photos, and stories. However, let’s not use this blog to be a scrapbook for Collegium. Let’s use it to announce conferences, projects, joys, concerns, pet projects. Let’s use it to connect.

Peace and all good,

Carl