It is a long-standing practice to open seminary classes with prayer, a practice well-honored in the lectures of John Calvin. The substantive intention of such prayer is to invoke God's guidance and the teaching presence of the Spirit, acknowledging that the learning now to transpire is not any ordinary learning such as the transformation of information, but rather is an exercise in faith, obedience, and praise. That is, "loving God with one's mind."
— Walter Brueggemann, Awed to Heaven, Rooted in Earth