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" After that eggroll lunch with Tom, I began having search committee fantasies: I imagined myself among focused, intelligent adults engaged in heady theological discussion, my seminary education finally being put to use. Those two years were the deepest lived of my life intellectually and spiritually. I’d fallen in love with church history, the mystics, William James, and Lacan. I still yearned for the immersion in spiritual thought and values, the ongoing conversation with school friends that moved from classroom to cafeteria to phone calls, and I never missed that intense engagement with ideas more than when I was dashing off puff pieces for the food section and not doing any of my own writing, as I was now. "
― Michelle Huneven , Search
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" The search for a new minister,” Arne began in his slow, raspy quaver, “is a sacred task to be undertaken with reverence and humility. You are as pilgrims embarking on a long journey to find your new leader. As with most spiritual undertakings, there will be hills to climb, dark valleys to cross, with doubts, missteps, and bugaboos along the way. I was on the search committee for Tom Fox, and I can tell you, surprises hide around every corner. You’ll encounter jolts, joys, disappointments, and many wondrous moments. A holy search is the experience of a lifetime. You’ll come to know your companions well, and become marvelously close.” We gave one another nervous glances, except for Sam, the obligatory Rourke, who was studying the agenda and pulling a long white eyebrow to an impossible-seeming length then letting it spring back. Was closeness possible with a man who didn’t recognize a person he’d eaten lunch with every month for two years? "
― Michelle Huneven , Search