A Tender Moment in Class

Something sweet happened at the end of my last class last semester.

Saying goodbye to my “academic children” is always hard. I was expressing such sentiments, trying to control my emotions. Thinking it was finally time to go, I said my final line. One very quiet student in the back tentatively raised her hand, wondering,

“What about the benediction?”

It had been my practice over 28 class sessions to end each session with a benediction, a final blessing, a final encouragement to apply our work to Jesus’ work. I had forgotten what had come to be an expected daily closing. The whole class looked at me, waiting. Swallowing my emotions brought on by such a sweet longing to end as we always had, I raised my hand, saying,

“Hear now the benediction.”

Each person respectfully bowed their head, saying, “Amen” together at the end.

Thanks for spending this minute with me, Dr. Mark Eckel.

An example of one benediction:

Mark Eckel (MA English, ThM Old Testament, PhD Social Science Research) is Executive Director of the Center for Biblical Integration, Liberty University.

“Give Me a Minute” is an ongoing effort to simply, clearly, and quickly explain aspects of true Truth.

Gratitude, as always, to my longtime friend, videographer, and tech guru Josh for his continued service.