Yeesh!

So, I made a girl cry in my class last night. What a moron. (Me...not her).

My professor asked me to facilitate a group of people giving their devotionals since I gave mine last week. Class was cancelled early due to an ice storm, and only a couple of us were able to complete the assignment. My role was simple: time each person for twelve minutes, cut them off when they were done, and then facilitate discussion on what they did well and what they could improve on for next time.

It was an easy going, open format. We all were careful to give each other great encouragement, but we also offered one another one or two areas that we felt needed a little improvement, as well.

Well....this girl did a fine job, but she just read off her devotional verbatim from her notes with absolutely no emotion or passion in a very monotone voice. So, after telling her: "I thought you came across very confident, you definitly showed us that you knew what you were talking about, there was good evidence of background study, great use of cross-references etc. etc." I went on to suggest that maybe next time she could read a little less from her notes and show some conviction and passion in what we was teaching us. If she personalized it for herself, she might be better able to personalize it for the rest of us. I believe the words I used were: "Be more transparent and vulnerable with us."

Sooooo, anyway........finally, when the last person had finished giving their lesson, this girl said: "Can I just say something? I understand what you were saying about me being more open and transparent, but I did this intentionally. I chose to show no vulnerability because I'm tired of crying. My brother just passed away, and a person can only be vulnerable and transparent for so long before they have to choose to set their emotions aside for awhile."

Shoot me now........