Bouncy Balls
I have had a few miscellaneous thoughts bounce through my head and I thought I would share some of them.
The first thought was the idea of bouncing balls. My wife, even though we’ve been married for 39 years, is amazed at how my mind works (and visa versa). She coined the visual image, for me, as bouncing balls of ideas in my mind to picture a random collection (seemingly) of thoughts that spurt from me on a fairly regular basis. For example, I’ve known for a long time that I have an inquisitive nature. Yesterday, I was at a music lesson and the tutor was asking me to play four notes. I could tell there was a connection to the music in front of me but I didn’t see it right away. I had to stop and ask about the connection rather than just following her direction. She intended to take my four notes and draw them back to the music instead of my desire to understand first and then comply. Her plan was better.
“For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.” - Romans 12:3-8 ESV
My second thought was that I was at a PT visit and we were talking about joint noises and their cause. She asked if there was pain and said if there was pain, I needed to pursue the conversation with my doctor. I added quickly “but, I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night”. She was young enough that she didn’t remember the hotel advertising campaign but promised to look it up. The reason that I remember silly things like that is because we were made that way. It’s the same reason Jesus taught in Parables.
“And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, ‘To has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.’” - Mark 4:10-12
My third thought was how we, as a society, try to separate our emotional reaction and our logical reaction and only use one or the other to prove our point. For example, President Trumps has, among other activities, made a point (a show you might say) of cracking down on illegal immigration. From what I can tell, his administration is focusing on finding and arresting illegal immigrants with a criminal history, at least initially. Logically, to me, this sounds like a great thing (as would be rounding up citizens with a unresolved criminal record as well). Emotionally, I’ve also heard people lament that our President is a “fear monger” (I overheard this comment last night). In other words, the illegal immigrants are worried they’ll be rounded up and deported and it isn’t fair that they should worry. An emotional plea.
“What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” - Romans 6:15-18
Enough bouncy balls for one day…
