Tuesdays with Morrie is a 1997 non-fiction novel by American writer Mitch Albom. Mitch Albom, the book's narrator, recalls his graduation from Brandeis University ALS , a debilitating disease, which slowly shuts down a person’s body, but leaves their mind intact.
One night, Mitch is flipping the channels on his television and recognizes Morrie's voice. Morrie is being featured on the television program "Nightline" in the first of three interviews with Ted Koppel, Following Morrie's television appearance, Mitch contacts his beloved professor and travels from his home in Detroit West Newton , Massachusetts
Following their first Tuesday together, Mitch returns regularly every Tuesday to listen to Morrie's lessons on "The Meaning of Life." In his lessons, Morrie advises Mitch to reject the popular culture in favor of creating his own. The individualistic culture Morrie encourages Mitch to create for himself is a culture founded on love, acceptance, and human goodness, a culture that upholds a set of ethical values unlike the mores that popular culture endorses.
The book covers many issues common to modern Americans – the downsides of aging and disease. The difficulty of maintaining meaningful relationships despite the separation of time and distance – the search for a meaningful existence.
But to say that Tuesdays with Morrie is a book about ALS victims, or the search for ones self and the great meaning of life and existence is to somewhat miss the point. In the search for these questions and answers, Mitch learns a more important lesson than just the ones imparted by his mentor Morrie. Though the answers Mitch receives are meaningful, though the ideas Morrie presents help Mitch to order his life, it’s not the ideas in and of themselves that are important.
It’s the conversation.
The book is essentially a story about two men learning to trust one another, to find themselves by finding the strengths of the other. The story is about the conversation.
There is something magical that happens in conversation. I don’t mean the ‘hey, how are you’s” “Fine” kind of conversations. I’m talking about the times when a group of people are honest about where they are in this world and where they hope to go. When a group of people can be honest with one another, when they can explore the great questions together, when the questions and the answers are given equal weight and equal value – That’s the magic time. That’s the magic hour.
And so, We turn to Paul. Paul writes this letter to the church in Rome
Romans 14 is a passage that seems, on its face, to be about food, and while I could take this opportunity to extol the benefits of a vegetarian diet, or to explain the various social, ethical, and environmental benefits I find in the world of vegetarian cuisine – Paul is really talking about food.
Like most of what Paul talks about, the food argument is a symbol, a place holder, a sign pointing to a different reality. So, when Paul talks about those who are weak and those who are strong in faith, when he mentions those who are eating everything and those who eat almost nothing, what Paul is really talking about is not those specific issues in themselves.
Paul wants the Roman Christians to know that life is about conversation. None of them were 100% correct all the time. None of them had all the answers. No one Roman, No one Jew, No one Christian is all the time in the right. Once the Romans were able to acknowledge the truth in one another, after these Baby Christians recognized that “Each person must have their own convictions.” Then and only then would they, as a community, be able to truly worship God. Only after they truly welcomed each voice into the conversation would they be able to appreciate that Jesus was at the center of each persons life.
Christian Education, the church, is at its best when we welcome each voice into the conversation. Christian Education, at its root, is about the discussion – about the ability to have honest, open communications with each other. It’s not about facts, it’s not about the “I know and can quote 157 Bible verses from heart”. That’s not what Christian Education is about at its heart.
I’m not saying that the information, the facts, aren’t helpful. They are. Knowing, for example, that Paul was a Jew born in the Roman Empire helps give me information which aids in understanding his message. Knowing that Abraham came before Isaac and Ishmael gives me tools to understand the current Jewish and Islamic tension. The facts are helpful.
But it’s about the conversation. The facts serve the conversations, the Bible verses serve the conversation. Because, like with Morrie and Mitch, like Paul and his Roman Christians, it’s about learning to know one another, to create relationships.
At its best, Christian education is about the Conversation with each other, and the conversation with God.
Mitch made an incredible commitment, flying from Chicago to Boston each week, just to talk with Morrie his mentor. Think about that – a cross country flight, each week, just to learn more about each other, to be honest with each other.
Sundays are our chance to talk with God and with Each other. It’s our chance for “Sundays with Jesus”. This is our chance, Sunday morning, Wednesday evening, to really talk, to be honest about where we are, to be open to every voice – whether they have 70 years of Bible learning or not, whether they are conservative or liberal, whether they are literalist or don’t know what that means – Sundays are about every voice, all voices. It’s about learning to understand where you are.
Christian Education is about the conversation. It’s our Sunday with Jesus.
