Today marks the beginning of the pre-semester ritual of various meetings made palatable only by the lunches to which they are attached (and some, not even that--let's be honest).
While the meetings themselves can be maddening--largely insofar as they provide ample time for me to be obsessing about all of the other things I NEED to be doing--they do provide a genuine transition back to the routines of campus life. There will be people around, regularly and not just haphazardly, this week; the hallways won't be quite as lonely even though the classroom floors are still dark.
And the lunches, paid for with our time and half-hearted, often snarky attention, will also allow us to catch up with one another, to find out what summer plans remain undone, and to try to place new faces amid the now-familiar.
We've had a lot of movement on campus this summer; I'm also hoping that lunch will provide me with time to find out where people's new offices are and perhaps an answer to the question of why they put the campus safety office and the coaches in the library.
Tedious at times? Yes. But simple gatherings with colleagues--usually over food--have provided some of the best moments of my life at this university. I work with skilled and smart people, people whose hearts share my heart's passion. Even when I don't understand them or when I sincerely disagree, I am energized by their commitments to students and to this particular incarnation of Christian community.
I'll try to remember that when I'm furiously making lists of things I could be doing besides sitting in yet another meeting. And I'll remember that the lunches are usually the best of the year.
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