St. Luke

Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed. Luke 1:1-4




When I was in graduate school, I had to study advanced social statistics which involved data collection and too much math for me. One of my professors, reminded us regularly, " fast and dirty is just dirty". He wanted us to be measured, careful and exact in our studies, so that no one could challenge the work that we did. He wanted for us to be well regarded scholars and researchers.
He felt the work we would do would be too important to lose by being careless.

Luke, the physician and evangelist, is for many of us a great story teller. But to me, he is also a symbol of  clear and careful thinking, wanting to present a thoroughly investigated account of  the story of Jesus. He didn't want to present evidence without doing hard work. His faith was so strong that he wanted to pass it on in a way that was without question and clear. God invites us to do the hard work of our faith, and calls us to be willing to understand who we are and where we come from.

Today I ask God to help me do the hard work even when I just want an easy life. May we, like Luke, take on the task of telling the story, by doing the hard work to deepen our faith daily and know all the stories.