Last year for Lent I wrote about a little tit-bird that ended up causing me to eat a large crow. In said article I waxed eloquent about how we westerners, unlike the lowly easterner who has to rely on a hairy-tailed rodent to tell them when spring will occur, have a much better way to recognize the end of winter. I wrote how we westerners have the lovely little western wood-pewee who sings its plaintiff little "peee-weee song at the first harbinger of spring." Said article spawned two letters to the editor. One letter, published the following month, indicated a person irked at the implied put down of uppity Upper Canadians that I had attempted as a fringe benefit in the article, a charge to which I should probably plead guilty.
The second letter, a very thoughtful one, was sent to me by the editor for a response. It was from a fellow westerner indicating in the most grace-filled way that with regards to the western wood-pewee I didn't have a clue about what I was talking about. It was from Dr. Ronald Bremner of Saskatoon, and in part the letter read: "I agree with David Webber that the sweet peee-weee, either cheerful or plaintive depending on the mood of the listener, is a truly pleasant sound of February, both in the Cariboo country and here in Saskatchewan, but the avian messenger which he hears this month cannot be the Western Wood-Pewee, a member of the flycatcher family and an entirely insectivorous bird which could not survive more than a day or two in such snowy terrain. The Western Wood-Pewee does not return from its winter migration to any place in western Canada until early or mid-May. The call or song is surely that of our year-round resident chickadee, and has been misinterpreted by many bird-lovers here as well as in B.C."
Bremner, a medical doctor and a resident of Saskatoon for over 50 years, an elder in his church for 47 years, and more pertinent to this discussion, an avid and published bird watcher for some "three score years and ten," is no doubt absolutely right. I am most likely wrong. Although I have yet to be successful in stalking a call since his letter, his logic is sound. Birds which eat bugs don't show up till dinner does. In the Cariboo, bug season is nigh on to May and the peewee'er I have heard in February since I was a snotty nosed kid has most likely been a common chickadee in verbal disguise. I wrote Bremner back pleading ignorance and to thank him for what he taught me and asked permission to use his letter in this article.
You see, Bremner teaches me something, and not just about birds. What he teaches me is to always remain teachable. I share Christ's church with a woman more mature than I am in years, wisdom and faith; who knows her Scripture and theology much better than I do. She is not the only one, but what makes her such a delight as a sister in the Lord is she actually acts like my sister (just as Dr. Bremner acted as my sibling in the Lord in his letters to me). Many times when I have challenged her biblical or theological interpretation she has come to me afterwards, shared with me her perspective and sought more clarity about mine. After more thought and prayer she has often phoned me during the week to thank me for providing her with new insight. At other times she has phoned me to suggest I consider this or that further and I have had to phone her back and thank her for providing me with new insight. She has said to me over and over again that her main job as a disciple of Jesus (and by inference, mine too) is to remain teachable.
I like that. I think it was Tony Campolo in his book Seize the Day who wrote to the effect that Christ never called believers, he called disciples. Campolo's point is that believers adhere to well developed intellectually expressed facts or dogma, disciples seek to learn of Christ and to follow him in obedience. Believers focus on what they believe, what they know to be true. Disciples focus on what Christ is teaching them, on what they have yet to learn as they sit at Christ's feet, in what they are to do to obey Him. A disciple's task is not to know it all, but it is to remain teachable, to be always learning.
Lent is just around the corner again and originally this is what the season of Lent was all about. Easter was when people were baptized into Christ. Lent was the time period before Easter when they were prepared. Lent was when they were taught. Lent was when they became disciples, for the rest of their lives. Lent was the season of becoming teachable. And just as Easter was the anniversary of every Christian's baptism, Lent was the anniversary of every Christian's discipleship. Lent was the time that came each year to remind one that a Christian's life was wrapped up in remaining teachable for Christ, for the rest of one's life.
It seems to me that with this in mind, Lent is not the time to be giving things up, or donning sackcloth and ashes. It is the time to be taking things on and donning an excited anticipation that only learning can supply. If ever there was a time to join a Bible study, this is the season. If ever there was a time to begin to contemplate Christ and His Word in meditation, this is the season. If ever there was a time to dive into one of the excellent books by Christian teachers, past and present, this the season. If ever there was a time to get your hands on some of the many excellent Christian audiovisual resources available, this is the season. If ever there was a time to learn about and take on service in Christ-like ways, this is the season. If ever there was a time to renew a commitment to remaining teachable, this is the season. Relish this season, this season of Lent, this season of remaining teachable, of learning and following. And I wonder, would the letters to the editor of this magazine look any different if they were written from this humble Lenten perspective? Hmmmmm?
