I was talking with Padme the other day, and I realized that I have thanatophia

 Good morning,

I pray the day finds you well.

I was talking with Padme the other day, and I realized that I have thanatophia. I didn't know that I had it and never really thought about it in those terms, but once we had our conversation and I pondered it, I came to the conclusion that yes, I am a thantophobe. I am not a complete thanatophobe however, only a partial thanatophobe. I had been giving Padma a hard time, I learned many years ago that all I have to say is, "That is women's work", and she just goes off the rails. I must admit it is fun to watch, although a bit on the dangerous side. 

I had been poking the bear with her and she said, "I am going to kill you!"

I said, "That doesn't scare me, I am not afraid of dying; well maybe just the transition process." 

She said, "You're a thanaphobe!?!"

I replied indignantly, "No I'm not, I'm a theologian."

Padme just shook her head and said, "No you idiot, a thanaphobe is someone who is afraid of dying, or the dying process." 

Padme is full of large words like thanaphobia, lexicon, perseverate, pedagogy, sesquipedalian and any word that is written in 32 font. 

Cookies on the bottom shelf.

I learned many years ago that if I want to speak with the intention of being understood and not merely heard, I must use words that people can understand and relate to. I also have to give people the ability to respond and ask questions; to not take things personally and not get my identity from what I know, but rather from a stance of curiosity.

I remember something Laurie said years ago. After listening to a pastor give his sermon one Sunday, a sermon filled with big words and fancy speech, Laurie looked at me and said, "I know I learned something, I just don't know what it was." 

In all actuality Padme is one of the best teachers I have ever worked with. She gets kids and kids get her. She is a master of "Cookies on the bottom shelf." I think she just likes to use big words with me because it will cause me to ponder, and when I walk and ponder I usually end up walking into a wall. she thinks that is pretty funny. I fail to see the humor in it however. 

Our "Y" is uniquely situated in one of the poorest communities in the Portland Metro area. It gets zero coverage from any news outlet for two main reasons:

1. It is on the wrong side of the river for the Portland news outlets to care about.
2. It is almost 200 miles from Seattle, making it to far away for the Seattle news outlets to care about. 

We seem to be on our own. I am reminded of something Brennan Manning once said, "To live among the poorest and most abandoned of peoples as a manual laborer without clerical garb, to pass days and weeks in the desert in the gratuitous praise of God, to communicate through friendship values that cannot be communicated through preaching, satisfies not a desire for novelty but a compulsion of love.  Some may call it foolish. I call it true wisdom from the God of Love."

Padme embodies what Manning stated. 

I will continue to work on my "Cookies on the bottom shelf" teaching method. 

Have you ever thought about whether you are being understood or just merely heard? 

Something to ponder.

Blessings,

Roger

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[1]Brennan Manning, The Importance of Being Foolish: how to think like Jesus. (New York: HarperCollins, 2005), x.