“Are you OK?” a friend at my ladies’ Bible study asked. “You sure were quiet today.”
Quiet?, I thought. I never feel that I’m quiet. Most of the time, I think I’m hogging the discussion in my Bible study group.
At my small group discussion on Tuesday, I did “tornado” in late, was distracted by a phone call that I received just as I came through the door, and had a pretty painful headache.
Still my friend’s comment was unexpected.
I love Bible study discussion and always answer the questions and add my “two cents.” Most of the time, I say helpful things (I hope!), but I’m always kind of wondering in the background if I’m talking too much or saying irrelevant things.
If you knew me in high school or college, you may be stunned to read this. I never—NEVER—spoke in class or answered questions. Ironically and surprisingly, I guess, I was an excellent student, but—AHEM—I was rarely prepared for class discussion.
That’s right. I was the kid who never read the assignments.
I’m pretty sure I failed every pop quiz I ever took. I’ve really never read Oliver Twist, To Kill a Mockingbird, or For Whom the Bell Tolls.
And those chapters in history and science textbooks? Are you kidding me?
I remember skimming through Jane Eyre and most of Shakespeare’s plays. Pretty sure I only hit the highlights of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. Those yellow and black Cliff Notes books were my best friends, and I learned a wonderful trick to get through 350 pages the night before the book report is due: Read the first sentence of every paragraph, and you’ll get a good gist of what’s going on. Good enough for a book report, anyway.
So, being the poorly-read and under-prepared student that I was, I didn’t have much to add to any discussion and was always terrified the teacher would call on me and blow my “cover.”
In my college sorority, I even won the “Most Likely to Be There but Never Heard” award in my pledge class.
These days, I read and read and answer my Bible study questions and ponder the nuances of the lesson.
I’m ready every Tuesday for thought-provoking, soul-stirring discussion.
Making up for lost time, I guess.
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