When Lightning Strikes Again

 

Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly.  James 3:1

Last month Elizabeth and I attended Annual Conference at Lake Junaluska.  It’s a wonderful place, nestled in the beauty of North Carolina’s mountains.  We’ve stayed at The Terrace hotel on the campground for the last decade.  That also happens to be the same place where those who are on the conference program are housed.  The conference center auditorium is over a hundred years old, and because it is a mountain community, buildings are not exactly conveniently accessible; parking is even less so.  And that is why I could hardly believe my eyes when we pulled into the Terrace Parking lot.  One of the first parking spaces was open…and that was precisely the moment lightning struck me….again!

As I began to turn into the primo parking spot, the sign smacked me right in the face…it was one of those signs reserving the spot (thou shalt stay out of this spot or pay with thy life), declaring it off limits to anyone but the Rev. Dr. Edgardo Colon-Emeric.  I stepped on the brake much harder than I should have, and Elizabeth wanted to know what train hit us.  I mumbled something about lightning striking the same place twice, and scooted off to find a parking space without 800,000 volts attached.

The first time that lightning struck was about 10 years ago when I took a required class at Duke.  It was the last class before graduation.  It was Dr. Colon-Emeric’s class.  Perhaps, after 6 long years of juggling school, family, and serving a church, my longing to be done with school may have short-circuited my interest in the class, and I didn’t do particularly well…with either the curriculum or building a bond with Dr. C-E.  Don’t get me wrong…he’s a wonderful Christian brother, a dedicated educator and champion for justice…I was just so ready to be done!

It so happened that the last day of classes was my turn in the barrel.  I was to speak at chapel before the student body, staff, and professors.  In my sermon introduction I announced…Hey, fellow student grunts…aren’t you glad it’s over?  The response was a thunderous applause.  Then I charged the plates for lightning to appear.  I said, Hey…I feel your pain.  I’m so glad that class with Dr. Colon is over…his tests are murder…but I’m done…I’m done!  From the back of the auditorium came a deep, authoritarian voice with more than a trace of Spanish flavor:  I have not yet finished grading your papers!

Cue the lightning!

There are some moments that never leave you.  I can still recall going blank for a moment, but managing to live through the rest of that sermon.  The message time was a strict 9 minutes (I’m certain student sermons are limited for a reason).  It seemed like I was up there for 9 hours.

The good news is that Dr. C-E was a good sport, who enjoyed seeing me squirm, even tho’ he’d given me a generous grade on the course. 

For You Today

I still cannot recall the name or subject matter of the class with Dr. Colon-Emeric, but I remember that moment, and how it helped shape me for the “unexpected” in preaching.  Same goes for life…you never know when lightning will strike again.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,000 devotional posts on Rocky Road Devotions. 

To dig deeper into today’s topic or Scripture text:  Blown Away by Every New Wind of Teaching and Lessons

[1] Images:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©