Monday 19 March 2012

Ah-Ha Moments

The first time I turned down plans with a friend because I had Bible study with David I was met with slight chuckles and disbelief. You see, I've never been a religious or faithful person. My usual verbiage for my beliefs is that I'm a "hopeful agnostic." The idea of a higher power lovingly watching over us was comforting and reassuring in times of crisis. I've been known to throw around a "Thank God" or two when something great happens. Was never moved to commit to a particular sect, always had too many questions and doubts. I've never been very good at following rules, either. True faith takes dedication and exuberance I've yet to find in my own life.
So, it came as a bit of a shock to my friends and family when I started devoting several hours a week studying Scripture with a Christian man an ocean away in the United Kingdom. It was important to David and I when we started the memoir that I develop a better understanding of the Bible, what it teaches and what it means to Believers. I now have my own King James Bible, given to me by David. I've also made a promise to my partner and teacher that I would spend time reading from it every day. He's made no effort to "convert" me to his beliefs, only to show me the path that is there for me if I choose it. His faith has so completely lit up his life and spirit, he cannot help sharing that with others.
The first piece of Scripture David and I studied together that truly moved me wound up being used in the memoir:

"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man:
but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able;
 but will with the temptation also make a way to escape,
that ye may be able to bear it."
-1 Corinthians 10:13 KJV
David and I were comparing stories of things we have gone through that tried our resilience. This passage from 1 Corinthians perfectly expressed David's perspective on this topic.
"God will never give you more than you can handle," David said to me, as I remembered the hard times I had been through. 
The idea of this stayed with me for days. I considered how many times I had taken the escape offered by harmful temptations. The list of regrets I kept carefully cataloged could all be connected to moments to escape. Perhaps these could be lessons, not regrets.
There have been so many of these "Ah-ha" moments as I absorbed the  lessons presented in the Bible, lessons made clearer by David's faithful interpretations.

-Dawn

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