Whatever could those three items have to do with one another? I am not remotely certain to be perfectly honest. But it happened like this: I had been biking early Saturday morning up the mighty Vodno mountain that the capital city lays against to the South. I was wringing wet from sweat . . . it’s 10 kilometers to the end of the asphalt and 9 of them are uphill. I finally reached the end of the asphalt, took a short rest, guzzled water, put on my helmet and glasses, and started back down the hill.
The going down hill part is my favorite part of this particular exercise route, as it is serious downhilling! Very fast. Finally I get to the bottom of the mountain and then I swing West toward my neighborhood. As I am riding past the U.S. Ambassador’s home, out of one of the neighboring drives comes a scooter tearing out of there.
Now scooters are more common than grass here, but this one arrested my attention for three reasons: 1) the man riding it was uncommonly large (the vast majority of people here are very thin), 2) the scooter had diplomatic plates!!!, 3) the man was carrying/holding a hacksaw.
This is a puzzle that I have not been able to figure out to save my life! Why a diplomat on a scooter? Diplomats can afford cars - nice cars. Moreover, why a really big guy on a scooter - dressed up for work in dress clothes and shoes no less!?? Why the hacksaw? And why not take the car (or a taxi if your car is not working!) if you need to carry tools into the office?? And I have about 35 other similar questions that I will not bore you with at the moment. My point is simply this, what am I missing from this picture? What am I not seeing and understanding properly for this encounter to make sense to me?
I preached on the incarnation and the Trinity on Sunday. I will confess that I don’t “get” either one of them either. I was sweating bullets on Sunday as I confessed my problems and struggles in understanding what God is, and has done. As C. was saying last night, it’s as if I think I can almost get it, but then it flies away. I just don’t have enough brain power to get my hands around this Divine Reality. No harder to understand I guess than hacksaws, Diplomats and motorcycles.
The going down hill part is my favorite part of this particular exercise route, as it is serious downhilling! Very fast. Finally I get to the bottom of the mountain and then I swing West toward my neighborhood. As I am riding past the U.S. Ambassador’s home, out of one of the neighboring drives comes a scooter tearing out of there.
Now scooters are more common than grass here, but this one arrested my attention for three reasons: 1) the man riding it was uncommonly large (the vast majority of people here are very thin), 2) the scooter had diplomatic plates!!!, 3) the man was carrying/holding a hacksaw.
This is a puzzle that I have not been able to figure out to save my life! Why a diplomat on a scooter? Diplomats can afford cars - nice cars. Moreover, why a really big guy on a scooter - dressed up for work in dress clothes and shoes no less!?? Why the hacksaw? And why not take the car (or a taxi if your car is not working!) if you need to carry tools into the office?? And I have about 35 other similar questions that I will not bore you with at the moment. My point is simply this, what am I missing from this picture? What am I not seeing and understanding properly for this encounter to make sense to me?
I preached on the incarnation and the Trinity on Sunday. I will confess that I don’t “get” either one of them either. I was sweating bullets on Sunday as I confessed my problems and struggles in understanding what God is, and has done. As C. was saying last night, it’s as if I think I can almost get it, but then it flies away. I just don’t have enough brain power to get my hands around this Divine Reality. No harder to understand I guess than hacksaws, Diplomats and motorcycles.
1 comment:
Hi David,
That was wonderful! The fact is that the world is a confusing place. Your little story points to the impossibility fundamental reality.
In Kipling's wonderful words, the best a person can do is to be "painting the thing as he sees it for the God of things as they are."
I haven't been faithful in reading these blogs lately; I'm going to try to drop in every day.
But I've been praying for you, your family and your ministry.
God bless,
Don Huntington
P.S. I wrote one of my daybook entries on the impossibility of understanding the actual world. Check out http://donhuntington.com/Gratitude/10.htm#1031
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