Much of life is mundane. Not every moment is big ticket. Yet in 1980, something incredibly life-changing happened to Becky and me. We packed our bags and moved 6,000 miles to Switzerland.
The timing was right. I had just gotten my M.Div. from Talbot/Biola. So it only made sense to pursue a doctorate in New Testament -- somewhere. Well, under the hand of God, that somewhere turned out to be a city with a 2,000-year old history, a city that evolved first into a Celtic settlement and then into a major Roman military outpost. Eventually it developed into a key European, cultural, and theological hub located on the beautiful Rhine.
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| Basel during winter. |
It became a center of the Reformation in Switzerland (along with Zurich and Geneva) and, following the Treaty of Basel (1499), joined the Swiss Confederation in 1501. Today when one thinks of the pharmaceutical industry, one's mind immediately goes to Basel. Oh, did I mention it was a hub for humanism as well? Just ask Erasmus, who published the world's first Greek New Testament there in 1516. Or John Calvin, who fled there to escape persecution and ended up writing a classic work of theology at the ripe old age of 26. The University of Basel, where I became a student in 1980, had been teaching theology courses since its founding in 1460. It was a heady period in history. The 15th century was a pivotal turning point in western civilization. Major events included Columbus discovering America (1492), the invention of the printing press (ca. 1440), and the end of the 100 Years' War (1453). Later, Basel became a major center for European and American pietist revivals.
This is the 13th century building where the Theological Faculty of the university met. It also housed its library.
Here, tucked away in a corner, sat yours truly for hours on end researching and writing his dissertation. One room in particular fascinated me. It was a large room holding a copy of every doctoral dissertation written at Basel that had ever been published. Yes, that included ALL of them. You see, in order to graduate with your doctorate from Basel, not only do you have to have your dissertation accepted by the entire theology faculty, not only do you have to pass your orals, but you must also have your dissertation published and, at your own expense, provide the university with 125 copies of your published dissertation. One of them they place in their Dissertationsraum and the others they send off to all the other theological libraries in Europe.
Did you know that I always, for my entire life, have loved languages, but I never dared to imagine that it could be a job? It was at Basel that I wrote my first book. And it was while living in Basel that I had my first journal article published. Fellow teachers, we are called to this work, though it might not seem like much. But if you play your note and I play mine and he plays his, together it will create a sonorous melody that sounds a lot like grace.
A worthy life involves launching out into the deep on our own, maybe even leaving the familiar behind to explore another continent. This is all part of that great, glorious mystery where God makes us into a person who can serve him well.
No future calling is more important, my friend, than the calling to which he is calling you right now, whatever that might be and wherever that might take you.