With Colored Pencils and an Open Mind (03/29/2025)

I am habitually “non-traditional.” I learned that phrase as a freshman at Edgewood College in Madison. I was 37 years old. I had a ton of life experience, but what I needed were academic credits. So, I signed up for classes. My major was religious studies. As a junior, I had to take a class on scripture with visiting professor Dr. McCarthy. The first class, he explained to all of us that we needed to buy a full pack of colored pencils. He explained that we would use them as we opened up the scriptures.

As I was leaving, I walked by him. He asked if I would stay because he wanted to talk to me. I stood by his desk as he said “goodbye” to the other students. Then he turned to me.

“I get the impression that you suspect my technique,” he said to me. It was then that I realized that my earlier eye roll must have been more dramatic than I’d realized.

“Well, Professor, I am a non-traditional student. I have a bit more experience than these other students. They might need coloring exercises, but I honestly can’t see the merit for me.”

He smiled. Then he responded, “You are paying good money for this education. May I give you a piece of advice?”

“Sure,” I said.

“Keep an open mind and buy a set of colored pencils.”

I grumbled all the way to the store and my frump remained, I must admit, through about the third week of class. And then, slowly, following Professor’s lead and instructions, using those colored pencils to mark repetitions, contrasts, etc. the texts started to open up for me. By the end of the quarter, I knew I wanted to go on for a masters in scripture in their original languages, which I ultimately did at the University of Wisconsin Hebrew Studies Department where Dr. McCarthy was one of my teachers and mentors.

If you’ve visited my home more than twice, chances are high that you know I have colored pencils on hand at my desk. I may be resistant to change, but when I get it – well – I tend to keep it! I can’t tell you how many times over the last 38 years I’ve picked up one of those colored pencils, remembered David (Dr. McCarthy), and uttered a “thank you.” My gratitude isn’t just for learning the technique of deep reading, of breaking open texts, of using markings to highlight content. My gratitude extends, as well if not more, to his other piece of advice – “Keep an open mind.”

It seems that as a junior I’d judged myself more “knowledgeable” than I really was. And in that self-judgment, I had closed myself to new experiences, new knowledge, new understanding. Thanks to this wonderful teacher, I got a piece of wisdom that I have carried forward to this day – “Keep an open mind.”

Daily the LORD surprises us. Daily there are things which require an open mind to take in and to allow to shape us. We are not “done muffins.” We are created to learn as long as we live and to grow in our relationships with the LORD, one another, and the world in which we live. Unbeknownst to me, as a junior, I’d already declared myself “done” and was just waiting for a certificate to verify it. I was on the wrong path. Time and experience have shown me that I’m not the only one to have made that mistake along the way.

David, Dr. McCarthy, and his method of reading scripture opened up a whole new world for me and not just in scripture reading. It also affected my prayer life and spiritual journey. I realized I needed to “Keep an open mind” there, as well, to look for signs along the way, to unpack my life prayerfully with the LORD.

As we go forward on our journeys of faith, buoyed by hope and fueled by love, let us commit to keeping an open mind and heart, open to the wonders of the LORD that the LORD brings to us in our lives, in our world, in our experiences, in our learnings. Let us resist the urge to pridefully think of ourselves as “done muffins.” Only heaven knows what the LORD has in store for us.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.