A GOOD SIGN

Since I don't really know exactly why I am pursuing this doctorate, I have been really nervous about how relevant I might find the two years of courses laid out before me.

And when I saw the titles of the first two classes I will be starting in October, I wasn't necessarily reassured: "Sacramental Spirituality and Disciple-Making Leadership" and "Holistic Renewal of the Church". 

I mean, most of my classmates, I assume, are pastors of local churches. But me? I am a former youth pastor and current 8th grade English teacher who has recently developed an interest in persuasion, human psychology, and habit formation. In fact, as I have given a bit of thought to what my dissertation might tackle, I keep coming back to the possibility of exploring what the science of habit formation might have to say about practicing spiritual disciplines like prayer and Scripture reading. 

Yesterday I got online and ordered the five texts that will comprise the "Sacramental Spirituality" class because I want to get ahead on the reading if possible. I have no idea what kind of workload these classes will entail. Amazon had two of the books on my doorstep this afternoon, and I immediately sat down to gauge my interest level:

I started with You Are What You Love simply because the subtitle is "The Spiritual Power of Habit". The first mention of the word "habit" came on page 4 and it had an endnote. I flipped to the back of the book to see what was being referenced, and lo and behold:

There it is: Charles Duhigg's book The Power of Habit, the book that sparked my interest in habit formation in the first place!

THAT is a good sign!