Free Writing

There are some things that lie just beyond common knowledge. For example, have you ever thought about the fact that Jesus never ate bacon, a pizza, a hamburger, or probably even an apple? (These things were unknown in 1st century Israel.) Have you ever considered how Methusellah was a vegitarian who died the year God flooded the earth? (No one even considered eating meat until after that Great Flood.) And, did you know that all music can be described by 12 notes in 15 combinations? (By the way, the supporting structures of sub-atomic particles are musical patterns.)

So much waits for us to discover if we can only follow the clues and put the peices together. God made this life a great adventure of learning and discovery, with each new lesson a chance to learn about who He is as the creator of all. Such learning is the key to truly gaining insight into the world around us.

Let's follow the reality that Jesus was a Jew. What does this imply about his life? He kept the Law. He honored his parents. He was not covetous. He never murdered. He also avoided certain bodily things. He rested on the Sabbath. He ate kosher. Jesus never ate pork, didn't combine cheese with meat, and never wore women's clothing. There is a lot we can learn about Jesus by understanding his Jewish heritage. We just need to connect the dots. Jesus never saw Rome, or an airplane, or learned to speak English or Chinese. Jesus wasn't a white guy with blue eyes. Jesus knew the stars because he could see them better without modern city lights.

In the same way, there are whole categories of infered knowledge waiting to be discovered about most things we encounter in life. I'm not suggesting that we walk through life with a bunch of pre-conceived notions, but that we allow our eyes to open wider and see the broader pictures around us. To paraphrase August Rush, "Wisdom is all around us. All we need to do is listen."

What then, can I learn about the subject I think I know best... myself? As we wait for the call to go meet our daughter, what secrets have I yet to discover about Bryan? What secrets lie beneath the obvious and around the corner from the everyday?

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