At my seminary, nobody asked your zodiac sign, but did inquire if you were a trespasser or a debtor: a reference to which version of the Lord’s Prayer one commonly uses.
I think most Universalists and Unitarians historically were trespassers but almost any seminarian leaving school today will be a debtor too. Really, anyone seeking higher education faces debt and in sum, the United States has become a nation of debtors.
There are lots of problems with this situation, not the least of which is energy and resources going to manage and resolve debt cannot be used for loftier goals. How can you expect good, willing people to take lower-waged non-profit jobs when they have huge amount of debt on top of their living expenses. This goes for churches, too. Churches, especially.
I was on-course to resolve all of my personal and educational debt by age 40 when I lost my last Day Job and couldn’t write those checks all those zeros. Perhaps 41 now. Or 42. (And then a mortgage . . . . ?)
But my creditors are quite pleasant to work with. Many aren’t and aren’t past using illegal methods to shake you up and down for your outstanding debt. People have been driven to suicide over this. But you have rights; use them and tell others about them.
See Frugal for Life: “Know Your Rights as a Debtor.”
With this blog post, I’m adding a new category, Debt.
It was funny at the Festival of Homiletics when we prayed the Lord’s Prayer together, and almost the entire crowd of 1,860 conferees would say “debts” and you could hear just few measly voices (including my own) carrying on with “trespassing.”