Say what?......I don't understand.

I taught a remedial math class at a community college for students who could not understand basic math concepts that most of us don't understand.  There was a lady in class who did not know how to divide.  She could not grasp the concept.  I tried everything I could think about.  She became so frustrated that she started to walk out of class and not come back.  Her comment to me was always "Say What?" when she did not understand so when she arose and started putting her books together to leave, I asked her the same question, "Say what?".  She looked me with fire in her eyes.  I stated, "You heard me.  I asked you say what?  You have said that to me so many times in this class when you did not understand.  Now, I don't understand.  You want to give up on conquering something that has controlled your life and keeps you from fulfilling your potential. I don't understand why you want to give up now for we have come so far."  I took an orange and cut it in eight pieces and asked her what I just did.  From there, we moved on to division and we spend time very basic and simple division.  Suddenly, the light flickered and it was clear to her.  She became so excited that she worked division problems for the rest of the night.

There are so many times we come against something that seems to be so high we cannot climb it, so wide that we cannot hug it, and so deep that we cannot comprehend it.  I once told my accounting class if they wanted a good sleeping pill to crawl in bed and take your accounting textbook and hold it above your head and attempt to read.  Soon, it will drop and knock you out and you can sleep.  That is how life comes at times.  We come up against the impossible. Yet, we read about those people who faced impossible situations yet they pushed on and found ways to make it happen.

This is where faith comes into play.  Hope is a wish or a desire or an expectation.  Faith takes the desire, the wish, and the expectation and puts legs on hope for there are times when action is required even though we don't know where the next step will lead.  Yet, we know that this is the right thing to do so we step forward even though it might be painful.  Sad to say, we don't seem to have many people today who live by a faith that is so strong  they stand for what is good even if it means pain or loss of life.

Often, we are willing to settle for the immediate, the gratification, the acceptance, the award, the opinion poll than live by faith knowing although it is unpopular it is the right thing to do.  I cannot imagine what I would do if I had been imprisoned for 27 years like Mandela.  When released, he forgave those who imprisoned him falsely and sought to work with them.  He was not bitter nor did he seek revenge.  I cannot imagine what I would do if I were Gandhi.  I don't know if I could go on a hunger strike or lead a nonviolent movement to win freedom.  There are men like Harvey Milk and Mel White.  We cannot forget Mother Teresa.  None of these people were perfect.  They had flaws, yet they dared to do what was good and what was right.

Jesus calls us to treat others as we want to be treated.  That is not always easy, yet it is the right and the good thing to do.  Jesus commands us to love God and love others as we love ourselves.  Jesus challenges us to to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit those in prison.  Jesus showed us that a true friend is willing to lay down his life for his friend.  Jesus showed us that humility, showing mercy, and standing for justice makes one happy and blessed.  Jesus told us that what comes out of our mouths reveals what we are really like.

May the God who is love, who is just, and who is merciful show us the right thing and the good thing so we may be people who walk by faith.