PODCAST
Teaching Moments
November 5th, 2025
Deuteronomy 6:20-25.
The search for meaning can be an arduous task or challenge. How do we deduce meaning from challenging events like a cancer diagnosis? Any number of challenges might be cited in which the difficulty of extracting meaning is high.
We can pursue meaning as though it was an element or ingredient inherent in every event or situation just waiting to be discovered. We have all heard someone say, “Well, ______ (fill in the blank with any difficult, challenging, or even tragic event) happened for a reason.” Most of us have experienced enough such events to know that meaning is often more difficult to find.
In the text above, the search for meaning began with questions without immediate answers. Too often we are quick to pontificate and slow to wrestle with questions that lack easy answers. “What is the meaning . . . ” may form the shell of the question’s kernel. If we lean into the question, its answer might unfold before us from the heart of the question.
Never forget the power of a thoughtful pause when such questions emerge. Teaching moments aren’t always scheduled. Sometimes, they arrive as passengers of circumstance.
Author: David Felter
