My driving shift on the return trip took us through the Smokey Mountains at around 2:00 am. It was dark, and only a vague shadow of these beautiful mounds could be seen. As anxious as I was to get back home, I was disappointed that the view was wasted.
My game plan for staying alert during the early morning hours consisted of a large Panera coffee and podcasts from my iPod; it was a winning combination. One of the podcasts I enjoyed was a sermon given by Leonard Sweet at the Kentucky Chapel of Asbury Theological Seminary. Len told the story of the only eight individuals in history who could honestly say they were students of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King was asked to teach a class on Social Philosophy at his alma mater, Morehouse College, in 1961. This class had been open to the entire student body, but only six men and two women signed up.
These students have periodic reunions to share the privilege of the experience . . . and the regret at what they missed. You see, not one of these students thought to save a syllabus or a graded paper from the class. Not one has a photo with their instructor or any evidence at all that they took the class beside their name on a register as taking the class and the fact that they received a grade. So many people passed up the opportunity to be a student of Dr. King, and those who did take the class mourn the fact that they saved nothing – partially due to the fact that even a signature from this great man demands about $10,000.00! Len commented, “One of the worst things you can say about anybody is that greatness passed by, and they missed it.”
It’s like driving through the Smokies in the dark and completely missing the greatness right in front of me. It made me consider how mindless we, as Christians, can sometimes be about the greatness that God puts in our path. There is a world before us of beautiful creatures created by God. But we may not see them because we find it hard to accept what we have so long believed to be unacceptable. They genuinely know and love Jesus but experience him with different disciplines, different expressions, and sometimes even different biblical understanding. The longer we insist “true Christians” must read the Bible, live their faith, or worship exactly like we and/or our ancestors did, the more likely we are to miss the opportunity to experience the greatness they have to offer.
We may be heading in the right direction, but whether we like it or not, the Smokies are a necessary pathway. If we take a good look and embrace what’s before us, I think we’ll get a beautiful view of the greatness of God . . . and maybe learn to better enjoy the journey.
Tami Cinquemani
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