Preparing a lesson

Sorry its been a while.

A good soundtrack for this post is Chris Bathgate's "Serpentine"

Right now, I'm in the middle of putting together my lesson for tomorrow night. And honestly, I want to wallow in the material all day tomorrow. Bible lessons, at least for me, don't come out like cookie cutters. There is no formula. Formulas lead to repetition and boredom, and the last thing we need is more boring Bible classes.

My experience has been that there is a lot of melancholy that accompanies lesson prep. It's not the dread of teaching, but the dread of impact. When one examines the material, it firsts works its way inward. Like John's little book it is sweet to behold, but then it hits the stomach and turns to wormwood. Before I can teach, the teaching must work its way through my sinews, get into my blood, work its way into the marrow of my bones. Yes, it is as painful as it sounds. The Word cuts in, violently replacing the diseased tissue with healthy. Because the process of redemption, which first began with Christ, is now working in me.

Becoming a remade creature is taxing, because you must confront the built up scars that you use to cover old wounds. Suddenly, that protection is gone as the lesson allows old wounds to flow again, convicting the soul.

It is only afterwards, one can confront with melancholy the state of what is. Just as Christ sighed within Himself before healing the blind man. God requires we to must sigh. To recognize that this isn't the way it was meant to be, and the only reason it is... well, is because this is what we chose.

The sadness, the conviction, the guilt. These are tough hurdles that must be surmounted. If we stay there, we lose the vision of the story. We remain bitter and add to the hurt in the world. We become vain and righteous.

Christ gives sight to the blind and it is with great difficulty I emerge from the mire. For Christ has already won. To teach the lesson now is difficult because there is a time limit and how can you take these people on this journey and send them away changed and energized in 1 hour?

There is the challenge of teaching and preparing your lesson