world that interacts with our natural world, the jaw-dropping realization that
eternity begins today, and some of those most healing teachings that guarantee
peace for loved ones who have been lost. I find so much hope for the future of
the Church in those moments of faith and clarity.
The greatest sadness of my job is watching that epiphany become just a
flash in the pan. For example, teachings on providence can really strike a chord
with someone, but when personal tragedy strikes just as that teaching is being
understood, it’s not uncommon for it to be discarded as nonsense. Think about
the sower and the seed that falls on stony ground, but does not take root in a
meaningful way.
The Gospel of Matthew puts it this way:
For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he
stumbles. (13:21)
My classroom, though often a lighthearted and fun place to be, is rarely
without tension –tension between what the students believe from their culture,
and what the Lord teaches in His Word.
We are no Strangers to Tension
But of course this kind of tension is not restricted to the classroom, and it is
not restricted to study of the Lord’s Word. Tension exists when we become
aware of the difference between where we are and where we could be, want to
be, or ought to be.
• When working, tension is the result of a job that needs doing and is
incomplete.
• When waiting, tension is the result of a time that will come, but is not
yet.
• When saving, tension is the result of desiring/requiring an amount that
you don’t have yet – maybe for a car, a house, a toy, a vacation, even
tuition.
• When abstaining, tension is the
result of something that you want
but know you should not have –
food, spending, attention . . .
• When growing, tension is the
result of a size that you want to
be or a position that you want to
have.
• When practicing tension is the
result of a skill that you wish to
master that you do not yet have.
Tension exists when
we become aware of
the difference between
where we are and where
we could be, want to
be, or ought to be.
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