The Unlearning
“Whatever gain I had, I count as
loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of
the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord" (Philippians 3:7).
I thought I would spend the first half
of life acquiring knowledge and the rest of life salting it away, but I find
that much of what I spent a life-time and a lot of money learning is slipping
away. I reach for a thought and it eludes me. It’s disconcerting.
But I find great encouragement in
Ter Steegan’s poem:
To learn, and yet to learn, whilst
life goes by,
So pass the student's days;
And thus be great, and do great
things, and die,
And lie embalmed with praise.
My work is but to lose and to
forget,
Thus small, despised to be;
All to unlearn—this task before me
set;
Unlearn all else but Thee.
—Gerhard Ter Steegen (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhard_Tersteegen).
David Roper
2.2.17
