Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.

• Matthew 5:4

When you pass through the waters,
    I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
    they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
    you will not be burned;
    the flames will not set you ablaze.

• Isaiah 43:2

About a month ago, I was at a funeral for someone who had been in my Sunday school class for many years.  She and her husband were part of the Video College of Biblical Knowledge, my name for the class where we watched a bit of video and then we discussed what we saw.  The videos were either dramatized Scripture or preachers and theologians doing an instructional video or traveling to biblical locations and talking about the Bible.

But in any group of adults, you could never please everyone.  I was paying for the videos out of my own pocket, and then some people in the class would start a mutiny and I had to replace that video.  All the time that I had spent turning the video into meaningful instruction was out the window, and I had one week to prepare a lesson using a video that I often had not yet purchased.

One Sunday, I arrived in the classroom early.  I bowed my head in prayer.  I asked God whether I should keep doing this.  And with little waiting, I heard a voice say to look in this woman’s direction when I got frustrated.

The classroom quickly filled, and I opened the class with prayer.  We saw about 15-20 minutes of the video and I stopped it with a carefully selected question.  I got the usual moans.  I got one woman asking why we were watching this particular video, not a full-fledged rebellion, but the sabers were rattling.

Then I did as the voice suggested, I looked toward this woman.  She was smiling.  Her eyes were fixed on mine.  She gave every indication that she was eager to hear what I would say next.  There was a twinkle in her eyes that said she was Joyful.

I silently told God, “Thank You.”

I had been teaching in industry for about thirty years.  Preachers, instructors, trainers, and school teachers talk about that teachable moment when you see those you are talking to become eager to learn.  It makes all the difference in the world at times.

When I closed shop on the Video College of Biblical Knowledge, I did so because I had lost my job and I got a temporary contract job in Florida for nine months.  When I returned, the couple had changed churches, but my wife and I kept in contact.  They were friends.

My wife passed away almost three years ago.  And now I said goodbye to a class member.  We have many people that pass within our sphere in this life.  And some leave a lasting mark on us.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.