It has been a great honor and pleasure journeying in the CMC program. This is a lifelong dream made practical and achievable for one whose circumstances presented only obstacles. While I had my own struggling attempts at nourishing myself with information about religion and spirituality in general, and Paganism in particular, Cherry Hill Seminary has provided me the legitimacy and structure that I needed exactly to validate my Pagan experiences, beliefs, and goals.
The modules were a mixture of familiarity and possibility in the sense that many topics were familiar to me as a psychotherapist and because of my own past research; but at the same time, new ideas and ways of thinking were introduced that required me to restructure my old schemata to accommodate these new data. The learning process was refreshing, a needed pivot from the competitive and evaluative pedagogies I got used to in graduate school.
The focus was on personal reflection, with academic work acting as reinforcement. The modules had a flowing, intertwining progression, where topics and information showed up repeatedly in various ways to underscore and integrate the necessary data into one’s thinking. I think of this as one long and fluid dance, moving throughout different rooms but still within the same mansion. They were not rigidly arranged in thematic categories, but were interconnecting.
My favorite section was Personal Theology, where I had the opportunity to zoom out and return to the Big Questions. It organized my understanding of the Gods, my relationship with Them, the place of ethics in my religion, and the nature of the world. It was basically a summary of the entire CMC, compacted and repeated. It prompted me into deep reflection, deeper than in the Ethics module, that led to my own sense of Calling to serve the Gods.
The CMC program as a whole has been a stimulating journey, and nearing its end, I feel contentment. I am simply happy that I have made the decision to be here. I am more confident in what I want and how I practice my religion. From now on, I will focus less on “doing things right,” and more on “just doing.” Orthopraxy, for example, has taken on a new meaning for me, a more mindful appreciation of a purpose-filled act instead of rigid formality executed according to tradition. If Julian of Norwich had her famous assurance, “All shall be well,” then I have my “I am content” as an aspirational response in the face of uncertainty and stress.
This is one precious thing I have learned in the CMC program. However, my hunger for legitimacy is still here: for accuracy, propriety, and validation. I would say, it may be slightly tempered now from its initial fiery birth. I no longer find it a negative, and this too is a product of my CMC training. Instead, I see it now for what it is: a driving force to reach upward in the unfolding development of my own spirituality. This is not a grasping reach, but a curious one. I am not saying that this program is the proverbial genie in the bottle, here to grant wishes to satiation.
I still have aspects of myself that were awakened or revisited in the time I spent in this program, that need due attention and continuing cultivation. But I believe this is part of what the program intended as well, a lifelong work, not just a terminal degree of sorts. It is synchronistic that the last module in the program is called “Lifework,” to push the point further.
To those who come to the program after me, I say, “Congratulations and enjoy!” It is a cause for celebration to be able to put one’s Calling into a structured and practical perspective that eventually and hopefully will flower into at least one comfort for one living being. For all that you have done and for all that you will do, may the Gods walk with you.
