Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.

• Romans 6:5

I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.

• 1 Corinthians 1:10

But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.

• 1 Corinthians 6:17

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.

• Philippians 2:1-2

My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments.

• Colossians 2:2-4

The Boilerplate

My wife started to write her thoughts down at one point in her life.  Some hints point to 2018 and 2019, after she had her open-heart surgery.  In spite of her trials and the atrial fibrillation (A-Fib) that required her to take blood thinners, this was before her major health decline.

Sometimes, she wrote a thought.  Other times, she wrote a Bible verse, and maybe her idea on that day.  Other times, it is a prayer, but I am going to take one entry at a time and try to write about it

Her comment

“Prayer: Dear Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, help me always to see You as Three in One and One in Three.  Help me to be an agent of unity, not division.  Amen”

• My wife’s next comment in this notebook

The Discussion

I told my Sunday school class, about a year ago, that my wife was the best shin kicker on the face of the earth.  Of course, you change one letter of that two-word job title, and it becomes something inappropriate, but I literally meant that she kicked me in the shins.

But then, when we got new tables, there were a couple of table legs between where I sat and where she sat.  She would clear her throat, sometimes acting like the cat with a hairball in its throat was stuck in her throat.  She would stretch her arms out in a profound yawn.  Anything to signal one problem that I have while teaching.

I enjoy the teachable moment.  When someone shows eagerness to learn, even if it is a tangent to the topic we are discussing, I love going down that rabbit hole.  It challenges me to discuss things that I was not prepared to discuss.  Two ladies in my class sat at the same table at one time.  I referred to them lovingly as the troublemakers.  They would ask questions that stretched me to my limits.

But when we were too far off topic, or if I was starting to illustrate the answer to the question by mentioning one controversial subject or another, my wife would go into shin kicking mode.

Why?  Controversies can be discussed elsewhere or in other settings, but when she was in a Bible study, she wanted unity of spirit and mind.  As soon as someone got offended, she felt the pain.  Her stupid husband went too far in trying to give a thorough answer to the question and she could not stick a sock in his mouth fast enough for someone else in class to not be offended.

I have only had a couple of people get offended, at least that I know of.  The ones that are in the class now have been loyal class participants through my good times and bad.  And most of them love learning things that might not have been on the agenda for that Sunday.

One of the men might sigh heavily, but otherwise, I miss my shin kicker.  Yet, we are united in spirit and in mind because we all love Jesus and even if we get off topic a little, we are talking about the modern-day application of what the biblical text is talking about.

But my wife was such an empathic woman that she suffered meaninglessly.  Sometimes I have to be offended before I learn that I am not quite on the right track with God myself, and I am the one hurting that unity of spirit and mind.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory