That's some bath robe

A few of you know that know me well, know how I managed to finish my Doctorate in just over two years. I did have one year before those two, but had to change my topic when I changed Universities after taking up my current post. Somehow the two years feel quite a bit longer than they are. They have been filled with so much activity, growth and change!

The long and the short of it is that I managed to do it by making the sacrifice of waking up at 4am every morning for most of those two years (except on Sundays). By the way, this is my word of advice to anyone who is writing a thesis or dissertation. Please, don't torture yourself by trying to work on it once a week for a few hours. You will find that you spend half of that day, or morning, or afternoon, just trying to find your notes, remember where you were last time, and get your mind into gear. My friend Dr Kevin Snyman told me "write a page a day", even if it is not a good page, at least the thoughts are on paper. Once they're out there you can always go back and work with them.

I would 'write my page a day' (or a few more sometimes) by working from 4am to 6am and then get ready to go to chapel, into the office, and the classroom.

There were many (read MANY) mornings where I thought it would be much nicer to stay snuggled up in bed. I am a poor sleeper at the best of times, however, the pressure of getting to sleep knowing that I had to wake up in four or five hours didn't make falling asleep any easier. You know how it is. When you KNOW you have to wake up shortly, and you desperately NEED to fall asleep, it just never seems to happen as it should... I guess it has something to do with the pressure that causes the release of adrenalin which in turn counteracts the melatonin.

On those mornings where I felt I had nothing to write, when it was cold and I would rather be in bed, when I knew I had meetings, classes, and appointments that would take me into the night, when I knew I would need all of my energy to deal with crises and conflicts... On those days, I would pray - asking God to help me get up, switch on my computer, and at least put a few words on that 'one page a day' (however unintelligible the words may have been).

[By the way, that is my theory about Doctoral work! If you do it for long enough, it doesn't really matter whether what you write is sensible, profound, or of particular academic value. As long as it baffles your promoters, and has LOTS of technical words on LOTS of pages, you'll get the degree!]

However, I am sidetracked again... On THOSE days, I would pray, and then I would think about those lovely red doctoral robes, the awful hat (called a bonnet), and the terrible gold hood (couldn't they have found a nicer hood for Doctorates!?). I often promised Anne, Emily, Melanie, Lerato, Madika, Phidian, Victor (and latterly, Ruth and Neville) that when I get the degree I will wear my Doctoral gown for a whole month! I fantasized that it would be my reward for the lost hours, lost energy, and lost brain cells. That thought, mixed with God's grace in response to my prayers, somehow got me out of bed.

My friend, Dr Neville Richardson, tells me that in America a Doctorate is called a 'terminal degree', supposedly because it is the last degree that one can do. I guess that accounts for at least some of the blood that goes into getting the red robe!

Well, here's a picture of the gown in question. I've worn it once (and no, I didn't wear it for a month. It's simply too hot and heavy for that). Somehow it looks so much better on my daughter, Dr Courtney Forster!

I pray that she may find the strength to face far greater challenges, and make far greater sacrifices, in order to reach her potential and honour God. Today she wears the robes. Simply living as a young person with all of the challenges, demands, and temptations of this era, takes great courage, faith, and commitment. I continue to rise early [not quite 4am, but not far off], now I simply pray... There's little writing taking place in those early hours these days; just praying. I pray for her, for our Church, for the student ministers, my colleagues, and you never know - I may even be praying for you once in a while [it's a great gift my friend Kevin Needham taught me]. Courtney, and all of you, deserve the sacrifice, and God seems to enjoy the company while everyone else is sleeping ;-)