Colleges and universities offer Appreciation classes in: Writing, Art, Architecture, Music, etc. One demanding aspect of these courses is responding to what was read, seen, heard, in a way that goes beyond unacceptably wimpy words like nice/didn’t like/OK/boring, etc. Students quickly learn they are expected to offer an erudite (think scholarly) response, one that shows their attentiveness and active participation in the subject. There’s a sudden chill in the air when a professor responds to your too-weak answer with something like: ‘Really, Mr. Freeman . . .?’ (picture the disapproving, raised eyebrows as the stillness throughout the classroom grows louder).
There are certain questions that skewer you, that, on the spot, call for more than a throwaway answer. For example, in class, when you’ve been daydreaming, the all-seeing teacher, unkindly, asks for your opinion. (earth to Don!) Or, as one pastor/head of school would ask students when meeting them in the school hallway, ‘What is God speaking to you this morning?’ Or again, as the pastor, someone asks you on a Wednesday, ‘What did you speak on this past Sunday?’ (Quick! Rewind the tape!) Maybe you’ve never experienced the jolt such a pointed question. If not, take it from me, they can produce a few riveting seconds!
I sometimes wonder if I daydream through the Christian life, taking the privileges and assurances of Jesus too much for granted. I wonder if that would account for the harshness of wake-up calls like sickness, hardship, disappointments, relational stress, sorrows, etc., those moments when getting serious in prayer feel suddenly front and center, alarming. I wonder, too, if this was also what Peter was communicating in 1 Peter 5:8: ‘Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
King David talks to his Heavenly Father and ours, in Psalm 103:14,17a, NLT: ‘You know all about us, inside and out. You are mindful that we’re made from dust. Your endless love stretches from one eternity to the other, unbroken and unrelenting toward those who fear you and those who bow facedown in awe of you.’ Great reminders! I’m awake! PD
Don graduated from Regent University in 1988 and moved to France for seven years, coming back to the US briefly to marry Sue in 1990. The work in France included working in a Christian School and helping plant a church before returning in 1995. He’s been pastor of Peninsula Vineyard since 1999. He enjoys counseling, especially married couples, traveling back to France (with Sue), reading, doing Sudoku puzzles and sleuthing out good, dark chocolate. Don serves as the senior pastor of the Vineyard Church Peninsula, in Newport News, Virginia.