Summer classes are over now, and as our students finish up the last of their summer session finals, I’m reflecting on the past couple months. It’s been so nice here in Athens this summer. No matter what the time of day, I can hop in my car and drive down Milledge avenue, trusting that there will be little traffic, if any, between me and my destination. never mind that it’s 101 degrees outside. No, Athens in the summertime really is a unique, enjoyable experience. Orientation sessions were a positive new experience for me, not to mention our Bible Study of those cotton-pickin’ parables, and the relaxed pace of the summer has been a steady source of creative rest.

We’ve finished up our “Cotton Patch” Bible Study as of last week, and I can say with confidence that those who participated did not leave the same as they came in. In one of his sermons from earlier this summer, Clarence Jordan likened Jesus’ spiritual revolution to a changing of seasons, a transition in the nature of things that makes the old ways of working obsolete, down-right lacking. In this transition we find ourselves as caterpillars facing the coming spring. We have the choice to get ready for that change, to prepare for new life as a butterfly, or to remain unchanged as caterpillars, and miss out on what spring has to offer. Repentance, Jordan tells us, is not about hanging your head and acting sorry for getting caught doing things you weren’t supposed to. Repentence, he tells us, is about recognizing that the season is changing, and getting ready for that radically new order. In the past 8 weeks I’ve been privileged to see some of our students gearing up for the coming spring, so to speak.

As I look ahead to that looming change that is the beginning of the school year, I can’t help but think that this in an appropriate motif, even though we’re headed into the fall. We have small groups to organize, service projects to plan, worship music to practice, and brand new students to welcome in as we come into this new season of activity. God willing, we also have a new parking lot to install in the coming couple of weeks.

God has continued working in our hearts and minds here at the Presbyterian Student Center this summer. I’m really excited to see what else is up those Almighty sleeves as we continue forward from the dog days of summer into the Dawg days of fall.

Mitch Roper