Tuesday, August 17, 2021

With Reassuring Confidence

"You know more than you think you know."
I remember him saying that
with reassuring confidence in his voice.

Lord,
it was a difficult summer;
Just weeks before I had graduated from college.
I had just moved to Atlanta to start seminary.
My girlfriend had broken up with me.
I felt very alone,
and I was sitting in a lecture hall learning
Koine Greek, the language of the New Testament.

My professor,
who always seemed like he was ready
for an afternoon sailing on the lake with Jimmy Buffet,
my Greek professor would say with reassuring confidence:
"You know more than you think you know."
Having memorized a few endings,
having learned a few regular verbs in Greek,
we had the basic tools; 
we were on our way
to understanding Koine Greek
and reading the New Testament
with new ears to hear.

Lord,
I read an article today about planning for church for this fall. (see below)
The writer invited us to consider that indeed
"We know more than we think we know."
as we enter this 2nd program year of pandemic planning,

We know that church is NOT about the building;
church has always been the people.

We know how to navigate technology better,
how to lead online meetings and classes, and
how to worship in-person and online.

We know that being Christ's presence and voice 
of calm, care, prayer & comfort 
in a time of chaos and uncertainty
can and does bring hope.

Lord,
this is a difficult time too.
But I am trusting the reassuring confidence
of my professor's voice and your still small voice 
saying,
"You know more than you think you know."
 Amen.



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The article I read is linked below: