My college roommate of four years is from Vietnam. I have come to know him as one of the more decent and intelligent people I have yet to meet.

Having said that, his culture is entirely different from my own, and thus we have encountered some logical barriers in communicating with one another. For example, he has an impressive mastery of the English language even though it is not his first language. Additionally, he understands the Christian faith in a way that is refreshing and enlightening to me, but it is not a tradition he was raised in.

As you might imagine, there are a few colloquial items that have not yet made the translation as well as some doctrinal issues that he is still hashing out. Because he is wise, he regularly consults others to resolve matters like these. On rainy days, if he gets stuck indoors with me, I become his sounding board.

He is a committed reader, so he regularly confronts me with philosophical suppositions that go way over my head. On other days, however, he fields questions which I find refreshingly simple and easy to answer.

That is until I attempt to answer them.

"What does it mean to be saved by grace?" or "What does it mean to come across someone?"

In my mind, these are very basic ideas, but after a few minutes of stumbling over and around words, I am overcome with the desire to refer him to an expert. I am coming to believe that one can never truly claim to know something until they can also communicate it.

A great truth that remains unshared might grow sick and cease to be.

There is something in humankind that is inescapably communal. For this reason, our ideas need others to function. Man was not meant to be alone.

I've gone somewhere. The question is: Can I tell you how to get there? I've done something. Now, will that something persist or will it end with me? Our existence rises and falls with our ability to participate and the bulk of that practice comes at the expense of our diligence in sharing our thoughts and findings.

So when you've arrived at a conclusion, hand it out. It might come back to you looking markedly different. Your knowledge is made complete by the contributions of others.

Even now, the composition of this post will leave more equipped to exercise the concepts contained within it. Because I've shared it, I am more bound by it, more versed in it, and more willing to adhere to it.

I think of all the late nights my roommate and I spent mulling over ideas that have been in discussion long before we were born. I recall being flustered and delighted by the volley of questions and I think now of what a service he has done me.