“A Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste” — I couldn’t help but think of that old college fund commercial the other day.  I was at my office at church, just getting ready to go home, and I saw C.S. Lewis’ book, “The Screwtape Letters”, on my bookshelf with Lewis’ other books there — I have most of them.  I thought, “You know, after all these years, I never have finished that book.  I have read the first half of it, multiple times, but never finished it.  I am going to go home and do so forthwith!”  So I put “Screwtape” in my briefcase and brought it home, resolved to end this glaring deficiency.

Later that night, after dinner, I pulled Lewis’ book off of the shelf which is by my chair.  I opened it and saw where I had, characteristically, highlighted and underlined some things which I thought were poignant.  I thought, “This is going to be easy — finding where I have left off — I will just take up reading where I stopped highlighting!”  So I made my way past the first third of the book, where I thought I had read, then past the first half, then deeper and further yet into Wormwood’s epistles, all of which contained highlights and underlines.  Finally — and unbelievably — I came to the last chapter of the book, wherein I had more underlines yet!  Were these MY marks?  Did I borrow this book from someone?  I began reading the sentences that were highlighted.  Yes, these were things I would highlight.  Those were my marks.  Disgusted, I shook my head.  I have finished this book before!  “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.”

What made all this so painfully more ironic to me is that I had just read a few days ago how C.S. Lewis had a special gift: he never forgot anything that he ever read.  Hmmm … and I couldn’t even remember that I had read an entire BOOK that Lewis wrote!  How disgusting. 

But the truth is, people do not all have the same mental ability.  God has given us widely diverging gifts.  One thing I have been blessed with is the ability to memorize scriptures.  When I was a young adult, I was fairly intolerant of people who said they had difficulty memorizing verses.  I just thought they weren’t trying.  Now I know better. God has gifted each of us differently in our mental abilities: some have a photographic memory; some like Lewis may remember each thing they have ever read; some may memorize more easily than others; some may figure out puzzles or be able to assemble things … and on and on.  We are each gifted differently.  We can waste a lot of time wishing we had different mental abilities than we do, but wishing doesn’t change anything.  What is far more profitable is making sure we are doing the best with whatever God has given us. 

Let me share a story with you that I will never forget; one which challenges me in this regard:

When I was growing up in the First Baptist Church of Harrah, Oklahoma, there was a young man in our church by the name of Jerry.  He had been in a terrible accident as a child, and was what we called then “retarded.”  Although he and his family were very faithful to our church, he was looked down on by most of us.  Kids in the church ran from him.  He didn’t smell good, and he didn’t act in “socially acceptable” ways.  He talked in a kind of slow, Forrest Gump fashion, but with even more hesitation.  And pretty much every time they called for testimonies in our church, which back in those days was fairly often, he would ALWAYS stand up to share — much to our chagrin.

But one Sunday night, during testimony time, Jerry shared something that has been forever captured in my memory.  The pastor asked if anyone wanted to share, and sure enough, ol’ Jerry stood up.  “Oh brother”, I thought.  Then he began to speak.  He told of how, years ago, he had begun to read his Bible.  Jerry could actually read, but not very well.  But he said he tried to read God’s word every day.  Then he said what gave me a respect for him that will never diminish: “Today I finally finished reading my Bible.  Now I have read it …” (I will never forget the halting voice in which he spoke this) “from … cover … t’ cover …”.  I sat in stunned awe.  Jerry?  Poor old, smelly, retarded Jerry — scorned by almost every kid in church — had read his Bible through?!   I still tear up at the thought of it.  How many people in that worship center that night — with whole minds and bodies, and every ability — had never read completely through the Word of God?  But Jerry, with all his limitations, but possessing a very simple love for God which impelled him to read His word with an incredible consistency and faithfulness over the course of years, had.  “From … cover … t’ cover.”

I still look back on that night with awe.  As I said, I will never forget it.  It is a good reminder that it is not necessarily the gifts and abilities which God has given us that are important — but rather what we DO with them.  It gives some insight as to what it means  to “Love the Lord your God … with all your mind.”  I know I don’t have C.S. Lewis’ mind, but I do have a mind — the one God gave me.  It makes me want to do the best I can with it; like “The Little Drummer Boy” to say, “I played my best for Him!”    Makes me want to reach for a good book.  Maybe this time one with a bookmark in it …