RIGHT in the middle of a crowded hallway, he collided with me. Everything went flying. The embarrassed student quipped as he helped pick up my notes, “Hey, doc, nice bow tie!” A little tousled, I thanked him and wished him well. Perhaps still out of some awkwardness, he asked “So, how do you tie a bow tie? I like ‘em, but I just can’t get the hang of it.”
Three decades in academia gifted me with skills to navigate around student traffic. So I would’ve just quickly acknowledged such instructions are “on the web” and been on my way. But this time I didn’t take that quick step. Something said, “stop!” And so I did.
The student and I conversed in that hallway as if no one else was around. He learned I wear bow ties because of a gift from my children a long time ago, and I initially had major trouble mastering the art of tying them. His curiosity grew when I confessed that faith had a lot more to do with the mastery than did YouTube. I mean, there’s a mechanics I don’t understand. If I think too long about it, I get confused and have to start over with the knot. To this day, I haven’t a clue as to how that knot works, even though I now have the hang of it.
The student was shocked when I said that accepting the “unknown mechanics” of bow ties calmed my doubts about His unknown mechanics of the Adam and Eve story. The first creation story makes sense, but Adam and Eve? Oh, come on… Dust? A rib? A talking snake? That peculiar tree? Those other cities? There were just too many unresolved issues for this “learned” mind.
But if I don’t need to understand the mechanics of a simple bow tie, what made me think I have to comprehend His mechanics of creation? It was then, I told the student, I stopped worrying about the how of the Word, and just accepted the why of faith. If God says it happened that way, that works for me! So now, I have the hang of it!!
Like me, you probably hesitate to give testimony at work — not understanding every part of the Word. But today, just listen for His “stop!” And don’t worry about that knot. Gravitate away from the how and toward the why. Right in the middle of anything—you’ll get the hang of it!
Reading
Genesis 2:7(a) (NLT) Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground.
Prayer
Father God, I don’t understand everything about You and Your mechanics. But I don’t have to. Just give me faith to follow You at work today, and I know You will help me get the hang of it. In Your Son’s name, I pray. Amen.
(Christian Public Servant)
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