TO NAME A HERO, SOMEONE ASKED, AND HERE'S WHO CAME TO MIND:
My Hebrew professor, Dr. Lester Kuyper, would often come bouncing into the classroom at 8:30 AM, to announce that he had just learned something new in his early morning work. Beaming, he might tell us of some translation issue he"d struggled with over the years. and just now, this morning, or last evening, a breakthrough. One morning, in particular, all smiles, he shared, "I was reading so-and-so thls morning, and there I was, noted in one of his footnotes."
We called him The Student, because learning was his passion, his way of life, and it gave him courage. He was gentle, thoughtful, and not afraid to give voice to how he saw the Text, and what it could mean.
He and his wife, Helen, offered picnics at a local park, and they'd invite a few students to join them -with a table beautifully set, glassware and cloth napkins, salads and such - never quite the ordinary, and then a game of croquet. My wife and I have never forgotten the elegance of these picnics nor that of The Student and his dear wife.
In his early 60s, tall and lean, bald to a fault, with an easy sense of humor, a resonant voice, an unbridled devotion to the Hebrew language and the delight of unfolding its beauty, its often raw energy, to students, all of whom believed themselves "called" to ministry; some of whom put up with the disciplines of learning in order to reach ordination, and some who found delight and inspiration in The Student as he moved them into the intricacies of translation and exegesis, and helped them discern "the Word of the LORD" in the ancient text.
I patterned my ministry with him often in mind - to be The Student, always learning; to share new discoveries with joy, to be humble before the great mysteries of prayer and study, to give a fine picnic in the park, and play some croquet afterward, or whatever it might be, to welcome and affirm others in their journey of faith, hope, and love.
-Tom Eggebeen