Ruth is a total delight to have in class. Sharp mind and open heart. Sadly, I was told, she was abused by a man in the recent past and is healing from that trauma. I see her flowering like the flowers behind her. She gets exited as we study through Romans together since what God has spoken there becomes so clearly seen.
Yesterday in class she said, “Now I know what you mean when you say present your heart as a blank canvass before the Lord”. That was a statement I’ve been making in the context of this class of “hermeneutics” which is “how to study the Bible”. I keep saying, “When you come to the scriptures, you have to empty your mind from your own ideas that you’ve learned in Christian culture, or modern day life. We have to always go to the origin to see what was meant then and allow that to shape our thinking and make our conclusions of the truth. I said, what if an artist wanted to paint a painting but where ever his brush strokes were, you also added your own brush strokes? The end result would probably not be what the artist had in mind. The same goes for studying the Bible. We have concepts in our minds that don’t exist in the mind of the Author.”
Today was my final class. It was a bit of a sad moment for all, but it’s truly been a great privilege to teach these hungry and respectful people. I hope to get a video of each of the rest of them. I will be around the school still as I eat lunch with them every day in the cafeteria.
Here’s Ruth’s video from this morning: