Lunchroom Banter...

     If you spent any time living on a college campus you know about eating in the dining hall.  After getting your food you would find a table where some of your friends were sitting and talk right through your next class if you weren't careful.  Some of my best memories of college were in the cafeteria and I thought that they were only fond memories of years ago.  Time has brought me back again and I find myself reliving those experiences here at Nashotah.  Today with our table nearly full one of my professors took a seat right next to me, a very common happening here at the House.  There is always an initial awkward sense that comes over me when someone I respect takes a seat next to me.  You pray you refrain from senseless babble and not spend the entire time talking about classroom lectures or projects.  Conversation is more than just sharing information.  It's about getting to know another person and letting them get to know you.  It's about sharing experiences that cause emotions to surface from time to time...and enjoying it.  It's hearing the lunch bell ring reminding you to bring up your dishes only to discover that your plate is still full of food.  At a seminary you'd expect that to happen with fellow seminarians but not regularly with your professors and yet I'm finding that here it's the new normal.  I still take pause when a faculty or staff member find their way to a table where I'm seated but so far I'm liking it just fine...