Over the years, I have come to appreciate the way some pokes, prods and rebukes of my beliefs have changed my understanding, deepened my resolve or made me consider why I hadn’t questioned some things. I’ve realized that:
- I don’t know was much as I once believed I did.
- I grossly underestimate how much I don’t know that I don’t know.
It is frustrating, scary and incredibly freeing to acknowledge that one has biases to shed, assumptions to drop and “dumb” questions to ask. Yet after long hours, days and weeks of making mistakes, I have found joy in finally seeing something that has been in front of me for a long time. I often get a second-wave epiphany, a realization such as: God has sent people to me with that message before. Guess I was too oblivious (Or preoccupied? Or obstinate?) to see it.
It’s not that I’m getting wiser with age. My head just isn’t as hard as it used to be. I have more work to do. That’s okay. God is good.
This message is excerpted from “What makes us worthy?” by Karris Golden in the January/February 2023 Gather magazine. Today we commemorate the Conversion of Paul. Today is the last day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
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