What is "hard work"?

In the 1953 book, The University of Utopia, former University of Chicago president Robert M. Hutchins writes "Thought is hard work, but not all hard work is thought." (Hutchins, 36).

Later he argues:

... a university in which no unpopular opinions are heard or one which merges imperceptibly into the social and political environment can be presumed, until the contrary is proved, not to be doing its job. If a university is a center of independent thought and criticism, then a popular university is a contradiction in terms. (Hutchins, 88).

As I think about these citations from Hutchins I am reminded of the pastoral calling. What Hutchins calls "thought" could be redefined as "prayer" or "contemplation", disciplines that are challenging to practise in an age of technological ubiquity. 

Hutchins' thoughts on the university could also be true of theological schools, contexts of pastoral formation. These days, most theological schools are a long way from winning popularity contests. The Christian message, with its "foolishness of the cross" gospel (1 Cor. 1:18-31), is nonsensical and unpopular thereby preventing notions of grandeur. Theological educators are having to work "thoughtfully" and "prayerfully" in an age when popularity appears to be winning the day. Thank you to those guides who challenge pastors to the "hard work" of thinking critically and theologically.