Sue is in her fifth year on the faculty at Creighton. In addition to teaching courses in American Government and Public Policy, she does research on clergy and politics. She is acting coordinator of The Health Administration and Policy Program for the College of Arts and Science.  Sue and her husband have a two-year old son and are expecting their second child this summer.

Spirit of Creighton is spirit of wrestling.

• Wrestling with how to be faithful and professional
• Wrestling with how to be Catholic and diverse
• Wrestling with how to be a scholar and a teacher
• Wrestling with how to serve our students, our families, and our community.
• Wrestling with questions in our disciplines. 

No doubt there are struggles that need more work, and issues that are sometimes ignored instead of wrestled with, yet the consistent spirit of Creighton is one of a willingness to wrestle.

This spirit is consistent with the Jesuit emphasis on the struggle to be more and with the Jesuit tradition of excellence in education. Excellence in education requires wrestling.  The image of Jacob wrestling with the angel is also consistent with the Ignatian emphasis on reflection -- reflection is wrestling with an idea until it gives you its blessing.

Much in our professions and in our culture pushes us to ignore the angel and to march on undistracted in the pursuit of professional success, productivity, or at least professional busyness.  While these other pressures urge us to march on, much of what goes on at Creighton urges us to stop and wrestle with the angel, and our teaching, scholarship, and ministry are much better for that. 

In this Jubilee year, we are encouraged to wrestle with the notion of mercy or forgiveness.  In many discussions on this campus already we have wrestled with the question of whether debt forgiveness is a path to justice or an idea that makes political or economic sense.  One issue that we might all wrestle with this year is the balance of mercy and justice or mercy and rigor in our classrooms.  This year I have been struck by how Jesus was a rigorous teacher with high standards and yet also a merciful teacher.  He definitely set high standards -- to be perfect -- to be willing to leave your family and all your possessions.  He was prone to talking over the heads of his class and sometimes getting on his students for not getting it, chastising them for their lack of faith or understanding.  Yet He was merciful -- giving His disciples multiple chances and letting them make mistakes without writing them off.  The ministry of teaching requires some mix of rigor and mercy.  This Jubilee year might be a good time to wrestle with how we mix the two and what changes we may need to make in that mix.

The second Jubilee theme that is relevant is that of rest.  Jacob was resting before he wrestled with the angel.  The discipline of wrestling requires the discipline of rest.  One of the ways that Creighton maintains a spirit of wrestling is by taking times like this lunch and this Founder's Week to pause and reflect.  Without times to pause, we trudge bleary-eyed and doggedly right past without even noticing that the angel is there. 

There are many scriptural references to rest, but one of my favorites comes from the Psalm 127: "It is in vain that you rise early from bed and go late to rest eating the bread of anxious toil, for the Lord gives rest to his beloved."

I thank my persistent and caring husband and the role model set by my parents for finally convincing me to honor a Sabbath rest.  If you don't already do so, I challenge you to take this Jubilee year as a chance to get into the pattern of some kind of weekly Sabbath rest.  I don't mean an orthodox view of a Sabbath rest, as in a day in which no work of any kind can be done.  The Sabbath "rest" day can be a busy one.  Instead I mean a day or part of a day set aside for activities other than those associated with our professional job -- or our studies.  Although you won't believe how hard it is to rest at first, and you will have no idea how you can possibly get everything done with one less day, the discipline of trusting God will be amply rewarded.  A Sabbath rest is one way to put into practice the wisdom of the proverb, "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5). 

This Jubilee year may we get enough rest to continue the wrestling….for as was the case for Jacob, we are wrestling with God and He wants to bless our efforts.