Good morning…
Yesterday I did something new, something way out of my cozy box, something I had never, ever done before. I began teaching my first Winter/Spring class by Zoom.
I know I seem like an old-fogey, behind the times, out of date, but I have felt my spirit totally resisting this unnatural method of learning for as long as possible. As a down-to-the-earth, verbally processing, creative collaborator wired with a hint of ADD, for me “Zoom fatigue” sets in pretty quick. Oftentimes when I face a mandatory Zoom meeting, I see myself gradually shrinking on the screen, glazing over midway through, wanting to jump out of my non-technological skin. So when COVID closed everything down last spring, I did not shift my classes over to Zoom, I stayed out of the remote learning lane. There were enough teachers in our church’s ministry to women who felt comfortable making that practical pivot, but I, instead, found myself shifting my life-on-life learning to walk-and-talks, encouraging texts, personal emails, old fashion phone calls, small group gatherings in the great outdoors, and spiritual direction sessions, held socially distanced in our backyard or peacefully listening to God together over the phone.
Last Friday I was excited to welcome women into the church for our first in-person class since mid-March. “Hallelujah!” Again I say, “Rejoice!” Masked, socially distanced, in a large room at church did not offer the hot tea options, the dog-friendly atmosphere, or the candlelit intimacy of our living room, but face-to-face learning felt energizing, joy-filled, life-giving. For those unable to come into the church for various reasons (preexisting conditions, advanced in years, caregiving for the vulnerable, living outside of Atlanta), I felt drawn to offer a Monday afternoon Zoom class. Finally I felt the Spirit coaxing me to teach, with authenticity, by Zoom.
“Okay, God,” I thought, “but I do not want the experience to be boring, lecture-style, me droning on and on.”
So true to God’s Word, the Spirit showed up with some out-of-the-box ideas. God spurred me to light a candle, to turn on the meditative music of our talented friend Dana Cunningham, and to welcome quietly into the cyberspace the over fifty women on our roster from throughout the U.S. and Canada. When it was time to pray and share some Scripture, the group saw my unmasked smile communicating in sync with my calming eyes, but, unfortunately, I could not see their beautiful faces. Again, not ideal, but it’s a step toward reconnecting into soul-filling community.
After a time of silence and a Spirit-led word of prayer, I felt drawn to slowly read aloud 1 Corinthians 2:6-13 in the Message translation.
We, of course, have plenty of wisdom to pass on to you once you get your feet on firm spiritual ground, but it’s not popular wisdom, the fashionable wisdom of high-priced experts that will be out-of-date in a year or so. God’s wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of his purposes. You don’t find it lying around on the surface. It’s not the latest message, but more like the oldest—what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us, long before we ever arrived on the scene.
The experts of our day haven’t a clue about what this eternal plan is. If they had, they wouldn’t have killed the Master of the God-designed life on a cross. That’s why we have this Scripture text:
“No one’s ever seen or heard anything like this,
Never so much as imagined anything quite like it —
What God has arranged for those who love him.”
But you’ve seen and heard it because God by his Spirit has brought it all out into the open before you. The Spirit, not content to flit around on the surface, dives into the depths of God, and brings out what God planned all along. Who ever knows what you’re thinking and planning except you yourself? The same with God—except that he not only knows what he’s thinking, but he lets us in on it. God offers a full report on the gifts of life and salvation that he is giving us. We don’t have to rely on the world’s guesses and opinions. We didn’t learn this by reading books or going to school; we learned it from God, who taught us person-to-person through Jesus, and we’re passing it on to you in the same firsthand, personal way.
Firsthand, person-to-person, passing on Christ in a personal way, we broke the large group into breakout pods, allowing the women to discuss face-to-face in private foursomes these three questions. Where are you from? How have you felt drawn to our study this semester? What new blessings might you carry forward as we begin to emerge from this COVID year? With the Holy Spirit speaking and listening through each woman, this Zoom class allowed us to engage in intimate learning with God.
After a three minute warning, we gathered again as a large group to conclude the hour with a peaceful prayer. Then we shifted to end as we began, with candlelit piano music filling the screen. Women left the Zoom gathering at their own leisure, led forth into their day by the Spirit of our living LORD.
After thanking the LORD for creatively connecting us, I crafted an email to the group, sharing the study material God and I have been diligently honing for our semester’s class, Waking Up Whole: Mind, Body, and Soul. Now I turn, and share the interactive links with you, just in case you feel led by the Spirit to join us privately from the comfort of your own home. Remember what our Scripture reminds: We didn’t learn this by reading books or going to school; we learned it from God, who taught us person-to-person through Jesus, and we’re passing it on to you in the same firsthand, personal way.
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Please feel to email me by touching on the “Note to Sue” button below if you have questions or thoughts to share. I sense the Spirit nudging me to post for our online community our new lessons each Tuesday morning, for the next eight weeks. May the healing adventure of Winter/Spring 2021 continue to guide each of us, as we learn ancient truth directly from God.
“Hallelujah!” And again I say, “Rejoice!”
…Sue…
