\u201cStanding on the shoulders of giants\u201d is a phrase traced back to Bernard of Chartres, who was the first to use it in the modern sense of \u201cseeing further than our predecessors.\u201d Earlier in Greek mythology, the image was different, where the blind giant Orion carries Cedalion as his guide . Creative Commons<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>Today is my mother\u2019s ninety-first birthday. It is also the beginning of a new academic year. At Convocation Chapel this morning, Multnomah University President Craig Williford drew our attention to the legacy of university professors and administrators of past centuries who suffered greatly for their pursuit of truth. We stand on their shoulders. My mother\u2019s closing words to me in our phone call this morning in which I wished her birthday greetings was how she prays daily for wisdom, anointing and energy in my teaching. I stand on her shoulders, too.<\/p>\n
My mother and my father, who passed away five years ago from cancer, were\/are simple Christians who sacrificed greatly for their children. Even the doctoral robe I wore today at chapel was their gift to me. I have a debt of gratitude to pay to them. May I never take my mother or my father for granted, Lord. I stand on their shoulders. And just as I reside in my mother\u2019s heart, may she ever reside in mine.<\/p>\n
2 Timothy records the Apostle Paul providing Timothy with some of his final instructions. 2 Timothy 2:2 reads, \u201cand\u00a0what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses\u00a0entrust to faithful men,\u00a0who will be able to teach others also\u201d (ESV). Compare this text with 2 Timothy 3:10-14 in which Paul speaks of his own faithfulness and reliability in passing along the faith to Timothy. Just as those who follow Timothy stand on his shoulders, so Timothy stands on Paul\u2019s shoulders. We who embrace the Christian faith stand on their shoulders.<\/p>\n
I am entrusted with passing on faith in Jesus of Nazareth to those I teach in various contexts, at home, at school, at church, and in multiple other settings. While I have to grade\u00a0students at my university and seminary on various projects, I will also be graded, and not simply by my peers or classroom evaluations. I will be graded for how well I stood on the shoulders of university professors from across the world from centuries past, the apostolic community, and my parents.<\/p>\n
While my mother is the most caring and forgiving person in the world, I don\u2019t want to take her grace for granted. Rather, I want to take ever more seriously my debt to her from birth to the grave and beyond. May I stand on her shoulders and take her in my heart as I live, breathe and teach each day. After all, I first learned the faith from infancy from her and my father, just like Timothy did from his mother and grandmother (2 Timothy 3:15; cf.2 Timothy 1:5).<\/p>\n
Lord, may I not be guilty of relational amnesia. May I cherish the costly gift of personal sacrifice, including the daily sacrifice of prayer my mother (and my father) has offered up for my siblings, our families, and me. And may all of us, no matter who we are or where we come from, stand on the shoulders of those who have given\u00a0their all for us rather than discount and discard them. It does not mean we can\u2019t be original or take giant steps forward, but we can never claim we did it alone. No matter how creative or inspired we might be, the point is not to be head and shoulders above others. Rather, just as we stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us, we need to shoulder one another\u2019s burdens for the sake of the greater good.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today is my mother\u2019s ninety-first birthday. It is also the beginning of a new academic year. At Convocation Chapel this morning, Multnomah University President Craig Williford drew our attention to the legacy of university professors and administrators of past centuries who suffered greatly for their pursuit of truth. We stand on their shoulders. My mother\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1284,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
Stand on the Shoulders of Those Who Paved the Way for You. You Didn\u2019t Do It Alone.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us, not to be head and shoulders above others but to shoulder one another's burdens.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/2017\/08\/stand-on-the-shoulders-of-those-who-paved-the-way-for-you-you-didnt-do-it-alone\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stand on the Shoulders of Those Who Paved the Way for You. You Didn\u2019t Do It Alone.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us, not to be head and shoulders above others but to shoulder one another's burdens.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/2017\/08\/stand-on-the-shoulders-of-those-who-paved-the-way-for-you-you-didnt-do-it-alone\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uncommon God, Common Good\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/paul.l.metzger\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-08-28T23:18:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-08-28T23:59:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/files\/2017\/08\/800px-Library_of_Congress_Rosenwald_4_Bl._5r.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Paul Louis Metzger\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@paulouismetzger\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Paul Louis Metzger\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/2017\/08\/stand-on-the-shoulders-of-those-who-paved-the-way-for-you-you-didnt-do-it-alone\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/2017\/08\/stand-on-the-shoulders-of-those-who-paved-the-way-for-you-you-didnt-do-it-alone\/\",\"name\":\"Stand on the Shoulders of Those Who Paved the Way for You. You Didn\u2019t Do It Alone.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-08-28T23:18:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-08-28T23:59:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/#\/schema\/person\/76d231c55ec9f60adb8597cca81f7242\"},\"description\":\"Stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us, not to be head and shoulders above others but to shoulder one another's burdens.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/2017\/08\/stand-on-the-shoulders-of-those-who-paved-the-way-for-you-you-didnt-do-it-alone\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/2017\/08\/stand-on-the-shoulders-of-those-who-paved-the-way-for-you-you-didnt-do-it-alone\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/2017\/08\/stand-on-the-shoulders-of-those-who-paved-the-way-for-you-you-didnt-do-it-alone\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Stand on the Shoulders of Those Who Paved the Way for You. You Didn\u2019t Do It Alone.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/\",\"name\":\"Uncommon God, Common Good\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/#\/schema\/person\/76d231c55ec9f60adb8597cca81f7242\",\"name\":\"Paul Louis Metzger\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/93c3df6455c0eff6aa9d7dac387d59d4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/93c3df6455c0eff6aa9d7dac387d59d4?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Paul Louis Metzger\"},\"description\":\"Dr. Paul Louis Metzger is the Founder and Director of The Institute for Cultural Engagement: New Wine, New Wineskins and Professor at Multnomah Biblical Seminary\/Multnomah University. He is the author of numerous works, including \\\"Connecting Christ: How to Discuss Jesus in a World of Diverse Paths\\\" and \\\"Consuming Jesus: Beyond Race and Class Divisions in a Consumer Church.\\\" These volumes and his others can be found wherever fine books are sold. Find me on: Facebook | Twitter | Google+\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/paul.l.metzger\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/paulouismetzger\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/NewWineNewWineskins\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/author\/uncommongodcommongood\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Stand on the Shoulders of Those Who Paved the Way for You. You Didn\u2019t Do It Alone.","description":"Stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us, not to be head and shoulders above others but to shoulder one another's burdens.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/2017\/08\/stand-on-the-shoulders-of-those-who-paved-the-way-for-you-you-didnt-do-it-alone\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Stand on the Shoulders of Those Who Paved the Way for You. You Didn\u2019t Do It Alone.","og_description":"Stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us, not to be head and shoulders above others but to shoulder one another's burdens.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/2017\/08\/stand-on-the-shoulders-of-those-who-paved-the-way-for-you-you-didnt-do-it-alone\/","og_site_name":"Uncommon God, Common Good","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/paul.l.metzger","article_published_time":"2017-08-28T23:18:04+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-08-28T23:59:14+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/files\/2017\/08\/800px-Library_of_Congress_Rosenwald_4_Bl._5r.jpg"}],"author":"Paul Louis Metzger","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@paulouismetzger","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Paul Louis Metzger","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/2017\/08\/stand-on-the-shoulders-of-those-who-paved-the-way-for-you-you-didnt-do-it-alone\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/2017\/08\/stand-on-the-shoulders-of-those-who-paved-the-way-for-you-you-didnt-do-it-alone\/","name":"Stand on the Shoulders of Those Who Paved the Way for You. You Didn\u2019t Do It Alone.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-08-28T23:18:04+00:00","dateModified":"2017-08-28T23:59:14+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/#\/schema\/person\/76d231c55ec9f60adb8597cca81f7242"},"description":"Stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us, not to be head and shoulders above others but to shoulder one another's burdens.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/2017\/08\/stand-on-the-shoulders-of-those-who-paved-the-way-for-you-you-didnt-do-it-alone\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/2017\/08\/stand-on-the-shoulders-of-those-who-paved-the-way-for-you-you-didnt-do-it-alone\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/2017\/08\/stand-on-the-shoulders-of-those-who-paved-the-way-for-you-you-didnt-do-it-alone\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Stand on the Shoulders of Those Who Paved the Way for You. You Didn\u2019t Do It Alone."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/","name":"Uncommon God, Common Good","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/#\/schema\/person\/76d231c55ec9f60adb8597cca81f7242","name":"Paul Louis Metzger","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/93c3df6455c0eff6aa9d7dac387d59d4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/93c3df6455c0eff6aa9d7dac387d59d4?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Paul Louis Metzger"},"description":"Dr. Paul Louis Metzger is the Founder and Director of The Institute for Cultural Engagement: New Wine, New Wineskins and Professor at Multnomah Biblical Seminary\/Multnomah University. He is the author of numerous works, including \"Connecting Christ: How to Discuss Jesus in a World of Diverse Paths\" and \"Consuming Jesus: Beyond Race and Class Divisions in a Consumer Church.\" These volumes and his others can be found wherever fine books are sold. Find me on: Facebook | Twitter | Google+","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/paul.l.metzger","https:\/\/twitter.com\/paulouismetzger","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/NewWineNewWineskins"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/author\/uncommongodcommongood\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1284"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5960\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/uncommongodcommongood\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"800px-Library_of_Congress,_Rosenwald_4,_Bl._5r\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/307\/2017\/08\/800px-Library_of_Congress_Rosenwald_4_Bl._5r.jpg\")
<\/a>