My nursing essay for Aquinas. The last step in admitance!

"Describe the best course you have ever completed in your academic history and explain your reasons for selecting this course."

            I remember the sunshine in J.O. McClurkan building, room 304; it was intense. The east side of this classroom was a wall of windows, and in the wintertime the sun’s rays had an enlivening and cozy effect on the weary religion students that wandered in and out every hour during the school week. A former philosophy and theology professor, Dr. Henry W. Spaulding, stood at the front of this luminous classroom, and took seriously the responsibility of instructing future pastors, educators, and students of all disciplines at Trevecca Nazarene University.

            I studied under Dr. Spaulding during his last year at Trevecca in the spring of 2007. I was a social work major with a minor in religion; this afforded me the selection of several upper division religion classes. I enrolled in Dr. Spaulding’s Theology of Holiness course as it appealed to my deep passion and respect for the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition from which the Nazarene denomination derives its doctrine.

            I walked the creaky, wooden stairs of that old building three times a week into room 304 and was made new as I listened fixedly to the transformational truth about holiness. That semester, holiness became more than subject matter to me, more than historical content and knowledge about influential figures, and even more than a defining doctrine. Instead, it became a call to live my life fully devoted in service to Jesus Christ.

            I was taught that we are called to holiness by God our Father (see 1 Peter 1:13-16); that means more than separateness and perfection, though those characteristics are significant. When we look to Jesus the God-Man and exemplar, we find Him ministering among the most unholy and wretched of people who were condemned and ostracized by the Religious of His day. This speaks to the way we must live out holiness in our world.

            Dr. Spaulding challenged my class to imitate Jesus’ holiness in whatever vocation in which we found ourselves and also among the people we encountered in our daily lives. He taught us that our role is not to separate ourselves from the lost, marginalized, or depraved, but to be among them, unthreatened by whatever unholy and desolate conditions we find in the world, we are to project holiness through the compassion of Christ. I found great purpose in this teaching, and I was encouraged by wonderful examples of people who embodied this calling like J.O. McClurkan, after whom our building was named and because of whom Trevecca was founded. He was motivated by love for Jesus and others and is quoted as saying “Religion is love…and without love any and all religion is but a name.” (See “Called Unto Holiness” by Timothy L. Smith).

            I can say without hesitation that this is the best course I have ever had the privilege of completing. Wherever I find myself, no matter the capacity, this teaching will guide my life. I understand fully my role as a Christian, and I will take my vocation and calling to love others seriously. Whether I am to be a registered nurse, a social worker, or a homemaker, with Christ’s grace and help, I will embody holiness and His calling.