The two questions

 

It is with great joy and gratitude that I recall my experience of coordinating three talks on the “Letters of St. Paul”. I still feel the satisfaction from having accomplished a challenging task, to which I had devoted about two months’ preparation. 

When Fr. Peter did the round-up at the end of my presentation, he asked me two questions. Quite taken aback and not having quite recovered from the excitement of the talk, I said something which did not quite make sense; at least it made little sense to me when I recall the whole matter now. I think I owe him and everyone of the attendants that evening a more thoughtful and more sincere answer.  

The first question was how much I had acquired from my preparation for the three talks. Well, to talk about the great benefit from it, I must first tell how I actually did the preparation. I started with flipping through a book I had borrowed. I was at first put off by the simplified Chinese characters and decided that I would not be making much use of it. I then switched to online browsing instead and was amazed at the discovery of several well written articles closely related to the assigned topics. Having thus decided on the main focuses of my talks, I was able to devise the initial plan. I then read the articles in detail, trying to decide on the points to be included. The points were then organized, evaluated and then reorganized for the presentation. Of course, the content of the articles was not all that was needed. To elaborate the chosen points, I referred to several other books for related details. Even the book I had at first disregarded did provide some useful information. The most important was, of course, to get back to the reading of the Bible, and, thus inspired, I proceeded to work on the enhancement of my plan with more confidence. In addition, I derived tremendous joy from drafting the powerpoint presentation. It was a great delight to match the text with vivid, attractive illustrations. And I was still polishing it during the final hour before the presentation. When asked what part of the preparation work I found most challenging, I would say it was the attempt to commit to memory all the important details. This ought not to have posed much difficulty with the help of the slides, but still there were facts and concepts that could easily slip off the mind. So I recorded my reading of the script, topic by topic, and I listened to the recording repeatedly to familiarize myself with the details. This proved quite effective, for during the presentation, I felt words flowing out without much effort on my part.  

So, what have I acquired? Undoubtedly, I have learned a lot. Reading the Bible, as I now realize, is not simply reading stories. We should not be content with knowing just what happened. It is worth spending time pondering the verses to see how some situations can be interpreted differently with relevance to the background and the sequence of incidents. The writers of the articles I used for reference explained so well that I now understand much better about St. Paul’s boasting of his weakness. We who tend to seek a sense of superiority through showing off our strength should learn to identify the power derived from suffering for Christ’s sake and to feel God’s comfort so that we can also learn to comfort others. Of course, these are concepts that demand very careful thinking. Despite all that preparation work I have done, I won’t claim to grab even a little of St. Paul’s thoughts. However, I am sure I can read the rest of his letters with more interest and confidence. I must also extend my appreciation for the effort of the writers. When my friends complimented me on my presentation, often for politeness’ sake, I said inwardly a word of thanks to those able writers.  

Father Peter next asked me how my preparation had affected my faith. In my immediate response, I mentioned the chest pain that had been bothering me over the past weeks. It reminded me, I said, of the thorn in St. Paul’s flesh. St. Paul had begged God to have the thorn removed but he was later convinced that the pain was there to remind him to glorify God. My chest pain is partially the result of the stress from my preparation for the talks. I believe the pain may still be felt occasionally even after it has been cured. And it will always be part of the treasured memory of my talks.  I will also remember St. Paul’s remark that weakness is the cost of apostleship. So when doing evangelical work, we should bear in mind that we are the containers only and the Word of God, which is contained, is what matters. We are not to seek applause through displaying our wisdom and talents such as eloquence of speech. While we may attract others with good powerpoint presentation skills, our main target is proclaim the Word of God. In fact, there is so much to learn from the wisdom in St, Paul’s concept about boasting of his weakness and about being united with Christ’s suffering. 

I feel gratified for having had the opportunity to share about St.Paul’s Letters. It will be an experience to treasure for the rest of my life. It will also be a useful reminder of my responsibilities as a follower of Jesus Christ.