Trinity Sunday Yr C (Jn 16:12-15)  05/30/2010

During this season of school graduations, I am reminded that shortly after my college graduation I moved to Florida to attend the Navy’s Nuclear Power School. The school was an intensive 6-month training course designed to teach the details of nuclear power plant operations. The course work kept everyone very busy, with 40 hours of classroom time and usually 30-40 additional hours of study time each week. After several weeks of this rigorous routine, nearly everyone was exhausted. And although we were exhausted, as new Naval Officers we tried to keep a low profile and quietly maintain the demanding study routine…with the exception of one particular student. The one member of the student body that was not a young officer hoping to make it through school and report to their first ship was a Navy pilot – a Captain who had been selected to serve as commanding officer of an aircraft carrier. As the future commanding officer of a nuclear powered ship, he needed to understand how the nuclear power plant worked, so he was sent to school…much to his dismay. One day the Captain raised his hand and said to the instructor, “All of this information is very interesting, but I would like you to teach us only what we really need to know.” Perplexed, the instructor replied, “Captain, this is all important information.” “Oh, I’m sure it is,” replied the Captain, “but the information on the test is probably the most important information, so why don’t you take special care to highlight that information for us.” The instructor, a young junior officer himself, stood speechless in front of the room, wondering how to respond to the Captain’s rather direct request.

Difficult topics require the very best we have to offer. The complexities of our lives and our relationships can demand our very best thinking; demand that we live through moments of uncertainty; demand our patience as we live into the unfolding truth as that truth is revealed. Continue reading →