THE CITY
Instead, the increase of age has rewarded me with radically improved powers of discrimination. When I view or listen to advertising, I carefully parse out the claims made and the little tricks designed to manipulate my emotions. Is there a tricky phrase? Are the sellers playing on my natural sense of competition with neighbors? How good is the product or service REALLY? After a while, you begin to see the anatomy of the offers. It is the same as when I learned to recognize the six or seven plots all films and television programs seem to be based upon. The magic is gone. I know where it is all going. I have seen it before. The seller or the author had better be awfully darn good or I will pick up his tell and too early. But all of this makes the real discoveries all the more special. Students at a Christian college may not realize it, but we professors are watching carefully to see whether our efforts are paying off. Is there a point to our work? Should we just give up on this dream we have of an education that is valuable in the worldly way, but also tries to accomplish something so much more ambitious? Ah, I think I have spotted something. I am looking hard, waiting for the sparkle to flake off and reveal plastic, but no. There are those times, now is one of them, when, like Abraham Kuyper, I see the gold dust undisturbed on the wing of the butterfly. True blue sanctification in the life of a student. Oh, thank you, God, for letting me see something that can break through all my jadedness.
Last night at the dinner table I kidded around with the children. “Mommy has been working so much lately, I think I’ll quit my job and stay home.” Interestingly, both kids objected. They didn’t like the idea, but the whole thing seemed very reflexive. I didn’t figure it would stick in anyone’s brain. Flash forward several hours to bedtime. I prayed with Grace and hugged and kissed her. Andrew’s room was next. I did the same with him. As I was walking out, he asked, “Dad, were you serious about quitting your job?” “No, not really,” I said. “I was mostly kidding around with you.” “That’s good, Dad,” he said. “I don’t like to think of you as a quitter. It makes me feel good to know that you are out there working for us.” 88