I'm an avid NPR listener. One of my favorite programs is a weekly show, called Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me. Its a news quiz, in which they ask people bizarre questions to news-related (but sometimes totally obscure) questions, and its really quite funny. I enjoy it alot, but there's one game they play, called Bluff the Listener, where I almost always guess wrong. This is the story of my life. Give me time to study and prepare, and I'll apply myself and get an A. But give me random questions about things I know nothing about, with a 30% chance of getting the right answer, and I'll almost always pick the wrong one. It drives me nuts.
Fortunately, the people who play are usually better guessers than I am. But here's the thing: I was listening to the show the other day, and the guest did something totally unprecedented: he asked the audience. Now, this isn't Millionaire, and people usually don't do that sort of thing. Its sink or swim on your own, which is the way our society operates too. Either you get it right, using whatever resources you carry in your own brain, or you don't. Too bad.
But as I sit here, contemplating a major career decision, it occurs to me that while you can't study up on all aspects of life and guarantee yourself an A, you can rely on more than just your own brain power. You can ask for help from your friends, your family and even from random people you meet on the street, but most importantly, from God. And you can use these answers to help you make decisions that seem too complex to figure out on your own.
Of course, if you ask three different people about a decision (as I have) you'll get three different answers. But that's the beauty of it, and I believe God's wisdom is in each one. So while society may say "Wait Wait, Don't Help Me", I'm with the one guy on the show who decided to poll the audience to get the best chance of getting the answer right.
If you listen to the show, you'll know that he actually got it wrong, but that's not the point. It was inspiring just to hear him ask. The point is, we are in it together. This is the way life is intended to be, the true meaning of community.
We have been put here to support each other, to guide each other, and to challenge and encourage each other. When we reach out and ask a friend for advice, we're living that out, and by connecting ourselves, we exponentially increase our chances of getting it right, even when we get it wrong.
Here's to faith in the community we build!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Moving On In The Maze
Why s it that we have such a strong inclination to stay in the same place in the maze? Why do we get so attached to the layout of the walls that surround us that we mourn their loss when the time comes to move on, resisting the change as if it threatens our very soul?
When you look at the different stages in life as simply being in different locations in the maze, its easy to get enough distance to see this human tendency to resist progress as silly, unproductive and unnecessary. But that doesn't change the fact that its hard, really hard, to take a risk and see what's around the next corner.
It reminds me of how when I was a small child, each time I moved up a grade, I would cry and beg my mom to let me stay in the grade before, with its comforting familiarity and sense of safety in the already accomplished. She always encouraged me to keep going, reminding me that I would feel better as soon as the uncomfortable newness wore off, as soon as I found my niche in the new grade and got the thrill of being challenged anew. But those first few weeks were always painful, a reminder that I couldn't hang on to the small bit of cheese I had already found, that I had to gulp it down and have faith that I could find another piece in a new place.
She was always right (about that at least). As soon as I stopped mourning what I had lost, I got excited about the new subjects, new books, and new friends. And I think that's the key to overcoming our human urge to resist progress, the reminder to have faith in the possible, a confidence that somehow what we have already accomplished will give us enough strength and creativity to meet the next challenge, and the next.
Because in the maze, if you stop moving, if you wait for the piece of cheese to reappear where the last bit was found, you will starve. It takes a leap of faith to move from a place that has already given us something to look for something more, but it is this action of faith that shows us we are alive, this ability to take risks that forces us to keep growing.
We are always moving on in the maze. Instead of seeing it as a threat every time we have to move, we should see it as an opportunity, to exercise our faith in God and in ourselves. And every time that faith is confirmed, we will feel stronger and safer in the ever-changing maze we call the world.
When you look at the different stages in life as simply being in different locations in the maze, its easy to get enough distance to see this human tendency to resist progress as silly, unproductive and unnecessary. But that doesn't change the fact that its hard, really hard, to take a risk and see what's around the next corner.
It reminds me of how when I was a small child, each time I moved up a grade, I would cry and beg my mom to let me stay in the grade before, with its comforting familiarity and sense of safety in the already accomplished. She always encouraged me to keep going, reminding me that I would feel better as soon as the uncomfortable newness wore off, as soon as I found my niche in the new grade and got the thrill of being challenged anew. But those first few weeks were always painful, a reminder that I couldn't hang on to the small bit of cheese I had already found, that I had to gulp it down and have faith that I could find another piece in a new place.
She was always right (about that at least). As soon as I stopped mourning what I had lost, I got excited about the new subjects, new books, and new friends. And I think that's the key to overcoming our human urge to resist progress, the reminder to have faith in the possible, a confidence that somehow what we have already accomplished will give us enough strength and creativity to meet the next challenge, and the next.
Because in the maze, if you stop moving, if you wait for the piece of cheese to reappear where the last bit was found, you will starve. It takes a leap of faith to move from a place that has already given us something to look for something more, but it is this action of faith that shows us we are alive, this ability to take risks that forces us to keep growing.
We are always moving on in the maze. Instead of seeing it as a threat every time we have to move, we should see it as an opportunity, to exercise our faith in God and in ourselves. And every time that faith is confirmed, we will feel stronger and safer in the ever-changing maze we call the world.
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