Research & Publication?

Looking over some old documents in a file put away some years ago I came across my external examiner's report for my doctoral dissertation. Several weeks after receiving the report, I received a 3-page hand-written letter from the external examiner containing 5 major points of my dissertation beside several which he highlighted in the report. If I were to write another monograph on Revelation, I will certainly take these points into consideration. But alas, I am barely keeping my head above water, let alone having time for research and publication.

Some people think that we have a long 6-week vacation between the Semesters but nothing is further from the truth. I take about 3 weeks to mark the essays of my three classes and final exams. Almost every year I have research students to supervise. Further, I serve as examiner of MTh's and DTh's dissertations. Last November just before the end of the year break I was asked to examine three MTh theses which took me about 3 weeks, and one thesis on Acts took me about 8 or 9 days to grade which ultimately led me to write a 3,000 word report. With marking for my other courses and preparation for John's Gospel elective this Semester, my Nov-December "vacation" was taken up mostly with work. No matter how things are going, I don't think I will lose sleep over lack of research and publication. I remember that it was all by the grace of God that I managed to write more than 70,000 words in less than 3 months just before my 3-year doctoral scholarship ended and I submitted the finished work with 7 days left to the deadline. How I wrote and how the work came about was God's inspiration without which I do not think it could be accomplished in such short a time. When God's grace beckons once more, my pen will flow freely again for the glory of God.