Thursday, September 27, 2018

Devotion - Thursday, September 27

A coffee visit yesterday reminded me of the painful experience of taking college calculus.  I was an Psychology Major.  I had no calculus or pre-calculus in high school.  I was placed in calculus because of my SAT score, which judged one's math skills based on algebra and trig.  Yesterday's conversation reminded me that I didn't even know what calculus was for!  I didn't understand the foundation question of why I would want to know these formulas and equations.

Yesterday's conversation morphed into a similar awareness of theology and Christian belief.  Too often, we discuss what is at the end, rather than what lies at the foundation.  

Later, at last night's gathering, I was asked to help understand dinosaurs and the biblical stories.  Once again I found myself backing way up to speak of the writing of the bible, rather than answer the simple question of "explain these fossils."

I know that this is one of the disconnects between the ministry I offer and the searching of students.  For most of your life, you have been trained to look at the end of the quest.  I tend to want to back up to the beginning.  There are few irrefutable affirmations in my theological construction, and they all serve as roots of what it means to believe rather than leaves which are produced by the tree's many branches.

There is nothing I love as much as aided persons who seek to examine those roots;  my prayer is that I won't frustrate or turn off those who would rather speak of the end result of the work done by the roots.

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