Breathless Haste

Dallas Willard was one of the teachers for Renovaré at the monastery that week. He was a best-selling author, reformer, Christian philosopher, and iconic Christian scholar. His primary teaching centered on how to live the eternal life now. Throughout the week, I noticed that others were meeting with him privately. I thought to myself, He is brilliant, so what would I possibly have a conversation with him about? But by the end of the week, I felt a prompting to meet with him. I requested a meeting, and he had one spot left. I took it. We met at a small table at the outdoor patio at the monastery. It was a gorgeous day. I was a bit nervous; it felt like a meeting with the Pope, but better.

I explained my family’s massive financial mess that we were wallowing in. Dallas was very quiet for a long while, and then he said that we must get the best bankruptcy lawyer we could find. Not, I’ll be praying for you. Not, Let me pray for you now. However, I believe that he prayed in that time of quiet before he responded, and I believe that was what God told him to tell me.

Bankruptcy

I walked back to the classroom after this bombshell piece of wisdom. It felt a bit surreal, but also very real at the same time. Our next class exercise was Lectio Divina, a repetitious, thoughtful meditation on Scripture. The instructor, Jan Johnson, read aloud the verses of 1 Corinthians 13:3–7: “If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.” (msg)

Have you ever heard the term bankrupt in the Bible? Nor had I. And there is no way that Dallas Willard gave her the clue as we walked in the door. I am sure she had picked the scripture and prepared long before