When pastor and writer Clark Cothern was five years old, he thought college presidents were powerful, frightening beings. That is, until one stooped low to spend time with him. He writes:

What I saw of college presidents I saw from floor level, as I played on the other side of my mother's desk in the administration building at Grand Canyon College (now University) in Phoenix, Arizona. My Mom was the Dean of Women at the time.

I would watch as students walked slowly down the hall toward the president's office and stop. They would rub their sweaty palms on their pants or skirts, take a deep breath, straighten their shoulders, and knock. The door would creak open. That's when I would catch a glimpse of the president's shiny, black wingtip shoes. A steady, strong hand would reach through and shake the trembling hand of the student. The student would then disappear inside the mysterious chamber known as "The President's Office."

I figured that walking into that room must be pretty much like going before the throne of judgment. It was a terrifying thoughtthat is, until the day the president stooped into my world.

I was playing with my toy car in the hall outside his office when the door opened. There they werethose shiny, black wingtip shoes. The next thing I knew, President Robert Sutherland, the biggest man on campus, dressed in his pinstriped, three-piece suit, knelt down. He placed the knee of his crisply creased trousers on the hallway floor. "May I have a turn?" he asked.

After we played cars together, President Sutherland asked if I would do him the favor of calling him "Dr. Bob." That's the day my opinion about college presidents changed.

I can see how some people might think God is a powerful, frightening being. Yet after I met him, my opinion about him changed, too. John 1:14 says, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us." When he stooped low into my world, Dr. Bob helped me understand that verse a little better.