by Brandon Beck

“I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven – whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows. And I know that such a person – whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows – was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat. On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses. But if I wish to boast, I will not be a fool, for I will be speaking the truth. But I refrain from it, so that no one may think better of me than what is seen in me or heard from me, even considering the exceptional character of the revelations. Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor 12:2-10, RCL)^[1]

On this blog on July 9, the Rev. Pam Tinsley posted a brilliant narrative of her experience preparing an eight-year-old child for baptism. Rev. Pam focused on grace in her story. In reflecting on the July 7 Epistle reading from 2 Corinthians through the lens of Rev. Pam’s story, I am struck by the revelation to Paul of God’s message, “My grace is sufficient.”

Even having heard this 2 Corinthians passage, especially this small fragment of verse 9, time and time again, and having studied the Pauline epistles in EfM, small group Bible studies, and divinity school, Rev. Pam’s words offer me an encounter with God through her eyes – and through Merritt’s eyes, the child whom she prepared for baptism.

Paul’s mysticism and focus on body-spirit divide, his further struggles with legalism, and unresolved identity development have always called the academic in me to wrestle with his words and the unknowable psychology of the man Paul rather than the potential Christ revealed in the stories he tells.

But today I encountered God through someone else’s eyes. These other eyes are Rev. Pam’s and her eight-year-old student Merritt’s. These eyes are Paul’s – with letting go of my need to psychoanalyze him.

God’s words to Paul – “My grace is sufficient” – draw me back to verse 2 of this passage. Paul says, “I do not know.” What a powerful pairing of ideas – “I do not know” and God’s “grace is sufficient.” May we all continuously encounter God with awareness and hope, remembering that seeing through someone else’s eyes might just open our own hearts to a new experience of the Divine that’s been encountering us all along.

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^[1] The Episcopal Church. “Proper 9, Year B.” The Lectionary Page, 1979. http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearB_RCL/Pentecost/BProp9_RCL.html.