This morning after Bible study one of the ladies asks me, “What are your degrees in?”
It’s a good question, and one I occasionally have to clarify. I studied economics and I have a degree in economics are two different things; in my case the former is true but not the latter. Every now and then an author blurb goes to print without my clearing it, and I cringe at the odd inaccuracies.
So I answered, “I have a BA in international studies, with a not-quite-a-minor in economics. My master’s degree is in business administration, with the bulk of my coursework in accounting with a little bit of finance.” Again, I don’t have an accounting degree, though I did graduate with enough upper-level courses to work professionally in accounting. But I’m not a CPA, which people ask me whenever they hear I studied accounting.
“Oh,” the lady at Bible study says. “So do you have a PhD in theology?”
Pardon me? “No.”
“Oh. Someone said you had a PhD in theology.”
No. No no no. “Nope. Business. Master’s degree in business, no PhD in anything.”
“Sometimes Father Whippersnapper seems to defer to you during Bible study.”
“That’s because he has a graduate degree in theology, which I do not, but I am more experienced with arguments among non-academics bickering on the internet.”
***
As parish grapevine experiences go, it was more amusing than horrifying, so it worked out.
–> I got to share a little bit of mine and my husband’s conversion stories (answer to the follow-up question of “How come you seem to know so much?”), and I conceded I do write a bit of Catholic non-fiction.
More better: I got a few minutes of living vicariously through one of the other Bible study ladies, who overheard the conversation and shared with me about her experience in internal audit and fraud detection, which is one of the coolest things accountants get to do and I’d be totally looking into that if I were looking for an accounting job.
It was a good day. And to my credit, I read just far enough into Love and Responsibility to know, as any good Junior Moral Theologian who happens to be married should know, the answers to these sex questions over at the Aggie Catholic blog,* which topics I alluded to in the rough cut of my most recent NCRegister post, now up: “What Do Priests Know About Marriage?” My very smart editor removed the explicit references (which the Aggie post answers succinctly, so you’re set if you have those questions) to keep it PG rated.
*I do not write for the Aggie Catholic blog. I have been to Texas three times, though, so it’s practically the same, for parish rumor-mill purposes.
Artwork: Young Nun at Prayer by Sergei Gribkov. I’m not a nun either, in case anyone is asking.
PS: Parents, this is a grown-up blog. I teach children in regular life, but on the internet I cover adult topics.