A Life of Learning
Another Day Along the Way
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Another day,
We are entering the second month - by name, not by weeks or days - of this year's school experience. Learning, studying, and facing change, we frequently hear that our educational experience should never end. Though hours are reached and degrees are given, the most effective people choose to live a lifetime as students.
This week, some students might feel ready to call it quits. And in life, many of us have already stopped this experience of learning. Reading, writing, asking, researching, daring ourselves, seeking understanding: Can it be a lifetime endeavor rather than a short term accomplishment?
I'm rereading one of my favorite books by one of my favorite authors. Eugene Peterson's reflection on the life of David, Leap Over a Wall, guides readers into a world of narratives which alert and inform. Sort of like learning, isn't it? A lot like living, isn't it? Little boy David, musician David, giant-killer David, poet David, warrior David, King David, sinner David, man-after-God's-heart David: his lifetime of learning and experiencing real life speak to us all.
We read and pray his poetic confessions. We debate and discuss his reasoning. We marvel at his honesty. We relate to his journal entrees of frustration. We long to live close to God as David did.
And we wonder if that same God might kill a Goliath through us, defeat a foe through us, or change a world through us.
I've seen many people begin well. Those early sprints pass the crowd. I've also watched many slow down quickly. Or quit all together. From so much to nothing. From stars to fans. From champions to quitters.
I've seen others who run - in pain, sweating, hearing no one cheer for them, feeling like they are in last place - to the end. I've seen many finish well.
Peterson writes: "It's not unusual for any of us to do things that are quite good. But it is unusual to continue and persevere. The difficulties aren't for the most part external but internal - finding the energy and vision to keep the effort going."
When we feel like quitting, let's continue. When we feel like giving up, let's persevere. When we feel like we've already done our part and it's time for someone else, let us endure.
Rather than counting the days, let's count the cost. And, if we ask, maybe a Stronger Power will enable us to finish, to finish well.
Along the way,
Chris Maxwell
Powerful Statement: For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
(Romans 15:4, NIV)
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Another day,
We are entering the second month - by name, not by weeks or days - of this year's school experience. Learning, studying, and facing change, we frequently hear that our educational experience should never end. Though hours are reached and degrees are given, the most effective people choose to live a lifetime as students.
This week, some students might feel ready to call it quits. And in life, many of us have already stopped this experience of learning. Reading, writing, asking, researching, daring ourselves, seeking understanding: Can it be a lifetime endeavor rather than a short term accomplishment?
I'm rereading one of my favorite books by one of my favorite authors. Eugene Peterson's reflection on the life of David, Leap Over a Wall, guides readers into a world of narratives which alert and inform. Sort of like learning, isn't it? A lot like living, isn't it? Little boy David, musician David, giant-killer David, poet David, warrior David, King David, sinner David, man-after-God's-heart David: his lifetime of learning and experiencing real life speak to us all.
We read and pray his poetic confessions. We debate and discuss his reasoning. We marvel at his honesty. We relate to his journal entrees of frustration. We long to live close to God as David did.
And we wonder if that same God might kill a Goliath through us, defeat a foe through us, or change a world through us.
I've seen many people begin well. Those early sprints pass the crowd. I've also watched many slow down quickly. Or quit all together. From so much to nothing. From stars to fans. From champions to quitters.
I've seen others who run - in pain, sweating, hearing no one cheer for them, feeling like they are in last place - to the end. I've seen many finish well.
Peterson writes: "It's not unusual for any of us to do things that are quite good. But it is unusual to continue and persevere. The difficulties aren't for the most part external but internal - finding the energy and vision to keep the effort going."
When we feel like quitting, let's continue. When we feel like giving up, let's persevere. When we feel like we've already done our part and it's time for someone else, let us endure.
Rather than counting the days, let's count the cost. And, if we ask, maybe a Stronger Power will enable us to finish, to finish well.
Along the way,
Chris Maxwell
Powerful Statement: For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
(Romans 15:4, NIV)
