Monday Glenn and I shared the bittersweet honor of conducting the memorial service for our dear friend, Mary Raphelt. If you have been to the theater, you have seen her portrait leading into the “Mary Raphelt Hall of Honor where we inscribe the names of the many people who contribute to the ministry of Ragtown Gospel Theater.
Mary had endured a long, debilitating illness, and she faced her ordeal with all the dignity and dependence upon the Lord that she had abundantly exhibited throughout her life. While we will miss having the presence of that marvelous gift in our lives, it is a joy to think of her in the presence of Christ and her beloved Herman. She was, and will continue to be a wonderful example for me…just one among the thousands who she instructed, mentored, inspired, and loved.
I had scheduled a solo concert in Big Spring Monday evening, and then one in Tyler Tuesday night, so I had to leave immediately after the funeral. The trip gave me some time alone to reflect about Mary and her impact on my life, and all that I had learned from her.
I want to share something that I had never fully realized until she was gone. It occurred to me that, although I was never a student in her classroom, Mary had taught me. She taught me something very important about the nature of God. More specifically, about the nature of the Holy Spirit.
As a teacher, the subject matter Mary happened to be imparting seemed almost beside the point. The subject was a means to a greater end. She embraced every subject as a new opportunity to grow her students, and help them discover and embrace every ounce of their potential.
She did it by having complete confidence in them. She had such faith in their ability to grow through every challenge that her students found themselves achieving more than they thought possible. Mary counseled and consoled, nurtured and challenged them, praised, corrected, loved, accepted and delighted in them. She inspired her students by her enthusiastic, relentless belief in them.
I believe that is a very accurate picture of the way the Holy Spirit works within those of us who have come to salvation. Rather than infusing us with some mystical, ego-inflating power…which always seems to be about changing somebody else…the Spirit of Christ seems focused on nurturing our own individual growth by counseling, comforting, challenging, correcting, and helping each of us see who we really are…guiding us toward having the confidence to see ourselves the way Jesus sees us. And live from that.
Independence In Dependence,
Chip
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