Frequently, when I teach first-year students rhetoric and composition or world literature, the phrase �I believe� replaces �I think.�  It�s natural enough, I suppose, though problematic for me as a teacher.  And it may be literally true that my students �believe� something more than they �think�something, given the difficulty of learning how to argue effectively in academic discourse.  Still, I get puzzled looks from them when I gently try to persuade them that while I really do care what they �believe,� in this paper I�m much more interested in what they �think.�

The root of the verb �to believe� has a variegated history.  Words like �trust,� �love,� and �permission� are related to it.  �To believe,� as Kathleen Norris points out in Amazing Grace, is �to give one�s heart� to something.  It is one of the most beautiful moments one can witness ­ to see a little child believe her father and mother; she gives her heart to them in trust.

Today�s gospel reading from Luke (18:1-8) is a parable by Jesus set up by his admonition �to never lose heart.�  In other words, Jesus warns his disciples to keep giving their trust to God.  Jesus tells the story of the importunate (persistent) widow who seeks justice from a corrupt judge.  It�s another �if this is how corrupt humans act, then how much more generous will your loving God be� story.  Jesus wants his hearers to give their permission to God to enter their hearts and take �possession�of them.

So, my students, despite their need to learn how to use their heads in academic argumentation, have their priorities right for life. That is, �heart� takes precedence over �head.�  Knowledge or �head work,� while extremely important, has never saved anyone; compassion or �heart work� does.  We�re not judged by God, in the last analysis, on what we think; we are judged on whether we lived a life of compassion and caring, especially for those who are marginalized.