* “i already knowed that, dad”

As our kids were growing up, I would try to remember to stick my head in their rooms at night before they went to sleep to tell them I loved them. In response I would often hear a gentle voice from one of our boys, quite young at the time, say, “I already knowed that, dado.” Such a reassuring response to me as a dad!

But as I’ve grown older, I’ve found these words have other applications, as well.

When I went back to school the last time, it was helpful in reminding me when preparing for an exam that as reassuring as it was to focus on reviewing the stuff I knew, I would do better in moving on to things I still needed to learn. I later found this helped me in the research and evaluation I conducted as well.

Or, if I’m busy teaching something, caught up in the excitement of it all, a student gently saying, “We already know that” is very helpful in encouraging me to move on to something which may not be quite as familiar and thus much more relevant to what we need to be doing.

And just yesterday I realized that in our Lutheran worship service each Sunday, we start with a time of Confession and Forgiveness, one of my favorite parts of my faith. Because, in confessing my (many) failings to the good Lord, the reassuring response is always, “I already knew that and you are forgiven.” In a world where how I do and/or don’t respond to life can be so very self-deflating at (far too many) times, what a gift!