The Ministry of Small Talk
Eugene Peterson
Blessed are the Meek
Moses, by turns raging and afraid, Was meek under the thunderhead whiteness, The glorious opacity of cloudy pillar. Loud is meek, buffeted by winds It changes shape but never loses Being: not quite liquid, hardly Solid, in medias res. Like me. Yielding to the gusting spirit All become what ministering angels Command: sign, promise, portent. Vigorous in image and color, oh, colors Of earth pigments mixed with sun Make hues that raise praises at dusk, At dawn, collect storms, release Rain, filter sun in arranged And weather measured shadows. Sunpatches.
I entered into my pastoral calling with a great charge of educational zest. My mind fairly tumbled with stories and facts, insights and perspectives, that give the life of faith such richness and texture. I had been on an exuberant foray into the country of Scripture and theology in my years of study and was eager to take others on safari with me. I knew I could rescue the Arian controversy from textbook dullness and present the decipherment of Ugaritic in such ways that would enhance appreciation for the subtle elegances of biblical language and story. I couldn't wait to get started.
No place seemed to me better suited to such endeavors than the Christian congregation. It was far better than any school. People came to church not because they had to but because they willed it. They brought a level of motivation to learning that was far higher than in any academic assembly. Nobody was there just to get a grade or a diploma. They came together in a community of faith wanting to love the Lord with both mind and heart. And they had called me to help them do it.
So I taught. I taught from pulpit and lectern. I taught in home and classroom. I taught adults and ...
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