Ran into a friend at the coffee shop a couple weeks ago. 

At the end of our brief chat, he invited me to a men’s Bible study he leads on Sunday mornings. 

Said they’d be starting Second Timothy first of the month.

Even though it’s been awhile since I stepped foot in church, I said yes. 

My friend is good light.

So, this morning I found myself gathered around a table with seven other guys. 

My friend began by giving some context around Paul’s second letter to his friend Timothy.

Asked if we had any questions before diving us deeper. 

I had one. 

I asked if it was known whether Paul had any specific expectation, when writing to his friend, that Timothy might share the letter? 

Or, did Paul intended his letter ‘only’ for Timothy? 

My friend said he didn’t really know. Asked the rest of the group. 

They weren’t sure, either. 

Wow, I said out loud. 

Suddenly found myself deeply moved. 

By the humble act of a person who knew they didn’t have much time left, writing a letter of encouragement — from prison, no less — to someone he loved dearly.

No expectations of shares or likes.

Pretty remarkable when you think about it, I said aloud. 

Which part, specifically? A voice at the table asked.  

I mean … the fact of us reading a letter from almost two thousand years ago … written halfway across the world from the church basement where we were gathering … that was aimed at encouraging a single person. 

Just, you know, the miracle of that. 

Prompted the person to my right to mention that recently he helped get a car started over at the local college for a student who had broken down. Said that afterwards, she sent him just the most wonderful letter. How it moved him so much that he took a photo of the card to share it with some folks he knew. 

He quoted a couple lines from it that were still on his heart, so that it could be on our hearts, too.

I told him that he made me grateful I asked the question … for the gift of him sharing the story of his letter.

Ten minutes into a Bible study about a book we hadn’t even cracked open yet … and already a sermon on the power of encouraging one another in trying times.

Anemochory. 

That’s what nature calls it. 

The dispersal of seeds by the wind.

“For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God.” 

That’s what Paul calls it. 

“We can’t change anything, but we can influence everything.”

That’s what the social scientist Robert Cialdini calls it. 

Paul could not change the circumstances of his imprisonment. Of his impending death. 

But he could send a letter encouraging his friend.

Regardless of our circumstances, we have agency over how we respond. 

Of the energy we put into the world. 

Paul’s letter to Timothy encourages us — to remember that encouragement is always an option.

Sitting around a table in a church basement grateful for asking questions, I am reminded that by encouraging one, others might be encouraged, too.