Something Life-Giving

This week I've been working on developing an internet course for ACU's Distance Ed. Program on the Life and Teachings of Jesus (Bible 101 around here). I had the distinct pleasure of meeting with an outside consultant, Tom, to plan out one of my course modules. Due to a communication error, we ended up having to scrap hours of work. Oops. But all was not lost. We had some great discussions about faith, the Bible, and the church. Tom is a faithful Catholic, and he has listened to the teachings of Jesus through liturgical readings all his life. He was especially fascinated with the idea that each evangelist develops certain themes to convey the theological perspective of the gospel. Tom had not read the gospels through in a long time, so yesterday he went out, bought a easy to carry Bible, and began to read Luke. When I saw him today, he informed me that he's almost finished with the gospel of Luke and asked for his next "reading assignment."

Writing this course has really been stretching me, and the process has been slow and draining. Tom's fresh enthusiasm for the story of Jesus Christ and for the distinctive viewpoints of each gospel reminded me why I wanted to do this sort of work in the first place. Tom has found something life-giving in the story of Jesus. That's doubly life-giving to me.