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It was summer of 2024 when Sherry Somer leaned over, looked at me after church, and said in a very serious tone, “Are you a writer?” It was sudden, unexpected, and made my heart give a little squeak of delight because I do love to write! I write only for my own pleasure, because I have the distinct inability to finish anything I start. But to hear her ask me that question and invite me to a devotional team meeting, with Carolyn Schmitt looking on approvingly, it felt like I had hopped on some divine train with a seat meant just for me. There was Sherry, opening wide this golden door of possibility. It was destiny. It was a miracle!
I later found out that – truth be told – Sherry asks almost everyone she meets if they are a writer. I was just one of probably ten others she asked that day. But it was still a divine train. I will always think so, anyway.
The very next week, I was already sitting in on the devotional team meetings. I felt surrounded by giants, because every single person on the team was so talented, had such a unique point of view, and some had been at South for decades. But the group was so inclusive and encouraging to every single viewpoint at the table – from the most experienced to the abject newbies such as myself. It really speaks to the richness of the Bible that one can have an entire group of people looking at the same material with which everyone is basically already familiar, yet in the course of a meeting, come away with so many unique and powerful insights!
There is a sense of starting out blind, of trying to experience the passage together with a beginner’s mind. Sometimes we were inspired. Sometimes we were flummoxed. Pastor Aaron did so much of the heavy lifting, and with some lucky visits from Pastor Alex, and such talented organization from Kris Thulson; they always pointed us in some unified direction. But the experience of those meetings was similar to the writing of the devotionals themselves. It was important not to come at them in a preconceived way. Instead, it was important to let those ideas breathe. To simmer. To give the wheel to the Holy Spirit, and to follow where it led. The act of writing a devotional began as blindness but took shape as I wrote. It led me to unexpected places, around corners I didn’t expect, and finally ended with a gift at the end, and a hope that I somehow got it down faithfully on paper.
My encouragement to you is to sometimes read and discuss the Bible with other people. I thought I knew the Bible when I came to the team. I knew the stories. I was familiar with the material. But my experience in the group is that the Word wants to be spoken about with other people. It becomes more potent to organize your thoughts, to explain your point of view, to share what pokes at your heart with other people.
Back in my Catholic days, one of my favorite saints was Maximus the Confessor. He was deeply concerned about how important speaking about Truth was to actually finding it. And he lost his tongue and his right hand for his point of view. He said this:
“The Logos is the speech of God, and man is the only creature to whom God has given logos (reason and speech) so that we may become co-speakers with Him in the renewal of the world.”
That is the gift this devotional team has given to me. When I am trying to find Truth, Beauty, Meaning, Forgiveness – all the absolutes we are all looking for – it has been a beautiful experience to search for, and give voice to those things in the company of other people. I am very grateful.
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by Carie Grant
