In the coming week, I will participate as a student in the last class session of my life. After quite literally thousands of them over the course of the past 21 years, I must admit that I am overwhelmed at the thought of making the transition to a regimented course of studying, researching and teaching for the rest of my career. One of the things that has given me solace, however, is thinking about one of the great constants in my life over these years – wonderful teachers. One …

This is, by far, my favorite month of the year. I wish I could say the reason is that I am squarely in the midst of my Lenten practices. I also wish it was that I had some brilliant ideas for term papers. And yes, the weather is changing and the beginning of daylight savings time is nice, but even these aren’t the real reasons this is the best time of the year. These particular three weeks are so good because it is March Madness!

One of the real pleasures of (still) being a student is that I get to read a lot of things that I would probably never choose to read if a professor wasn’t assigning it. Last week, one of those types of passages came across my desk: a selection from Martin Luther’s “Lectures on Genesis, Chapters 1-5.” Early on in the reading, I came across one of Luther’s references to St. Augustine, and our lack of gratitude in daily life. It is worth sharing the quote at length here: