The Dragon in the Drain
This little booklet is the result of a story my twins helped create.
We have long since pretended that a dragon lives in the drainage hole at my work. The dragon in the drain has spilled over to about every and any grated hole we happen to find now. All three of the boys will pick grass and stick it down the hole for the apparently hungry dragon. People probably think we are crazy laying on the ground pretending to hear growls echoing down below.
This fall I decided to elaborate on the story and weave in some of the history of Southern Seminary in myth form. I wrote a simple poem and then illustrated it with colored pencil sketches. I did the layout in Adobe InDesign so I could print it and make it into a hardcover book for my twins (a couple pictures of the final product below). I recently published the book through Blurb, an on-demand printing house. You can order a paperback or hardback copy of the book here. You can order a digital copy for your iPad or iPhone here.
Enjoy. And if you ever visit our campus, beware.
‡ The Dragon Key ‡
My mom (isn’t that a wonderful way to start a sentence) encouraged me to provide something of a “key” to help those unfamiliar with Southern’s history to understand the dragon tale a bit better. I suppose if you want a more thorough explanation you should read the History of Southern Seminary, written by Dr. Greg Wills, and published by Oxford University Press. You can buy it here.
But, for those of you who may not have time to read this nearly 600 page resource (and a great book it is), I’ll highlight a few points that may help:
‡ James P. Boyce is the founder and first president of Southern Seminary (founded in 1859)
‡ The Abstract or Principles is the doctrinal statement for the seminary, along with the Baptist Faith and Message
‡ Crawford H. Toy was the first professor to be dismissed because of teaching contrary to the Abstract of Principles. Toy joined the faculty at Harvard University after leaving the seminary. Interestingly, Toy was at one time engaged to Lottie Moon. The engagement did not lead to marriage, and some speculate that it was because of Toy’s theological trajectory.
‡ The Josephus Bowl is a large field in the middle of the campus. This is really a nickname for the field that is the result of an urban legend that students used to burn (or bury) their books by the historian Josephus at the end of each semester to protest the large reading requirement. Of course, everyone knows seminary students don’t burn books. They build libraries. They are bibliophiles.
‡ The “beeches” is an affectionate title given to our campus because of the large number of beech trees throughout our acreage.
‡ The title I use for Dr. Mohler comes from his sermon here. Dr. Mohler was elected the ninth president of Southern Seminary at the age of 33. This was a critical appointment for the conservative resurgence within Southern Baptist life reviving an emphasis on the inerrancy of Scripture.