Confidence.  

That is one of the most tangible benefits I have received from my education at CHS. 

Last week, I met with two University of South Carolina department chairs, a museum curator, a Muslim leader, and the chief of our largest Native American tribal group in the state.  Chief Goins is curating an exhibit of Native American material culture for the museum and invited us to put together an interfaith panel about earth-based spirituality.  I look forward to a spirited discussion in January when several of us take the small museum stage to discuss a topic that I proposed to the group, "How the Earth Speaks To Us." We all agreed that this title turned the topic from being directed by each of our faiths to recognizing the pre-eminence of the Earth, herself, and how she manifests and impacts our various religious worlds. 

We talked about the need to acknowledge our differences, not get stuck in discussions about how we are all the same.  I am quite sure that my pointed statement that I effectively worship the Earth as a sentient being was like cold water in the face of at least one very conservative participant.  One of my university colleagues and I pointed out that in our interfaith group (IPSC) earth-based spirituality is primarily represented by the Native Americans and the Pagans, and we noted the animist and shamanistic characteristics that mark both these broad groupings.  Near the end I asked Chief Goins to guide the group through issues of inappropriate borrowing of Native American culture.

Most of us here would have held our ground quite well in this setting.  Back in my office, however, I mused upon how my CHS learning has given me a core of strength that enables me to hold my head high among other religious leaders.  Frankly, it also nurtures in me a healthy humility for what they have accomplished in their own spiritual journeys.  One department chair is a rabbi who specializes in Middle Eastern archaeology (he has taught in Cairo at the invitation of Zahi Hawass, e.g.), not only conversant in Hebrew, but also ancient Egyptian. He readily noted yesterday the Pagan precursors to both Judaism and Islam. The other is a longtime interfaith activist as well as a force for change within his Methodist denomination who both contributed to and attended last year's symposium.  And I can't even imagine what it may be like for my Muslim colleague to learn Arabic and then memorize the Qu-ran!

So it is with gratitude to my CHS teachers that I have more than a speaking acquaintance with theological terms and concepts, awareness of at least the basics of many world religions, sensitivity to cultural issues, understanding of how and why ritual works, some knowledge of human behavior, leadership skills, religion and legal matters, and more. 

Have you begun CHS studies at some time in the past and then lapsed in your pursuit?  It's never too late to "be all that you can be." The years at CHS have flown by, for me, and I long for the day I receive my degree, but I steadily move forward with that goal in sight.  And every semester I feel more confident, more comfortable with my place in the world.