Thursday, July 16, 2009

Theory of Everything

I find that I have a lot that I want to talk about. On the list today are: organ transplants, “graceful” interruptions, friendship, imagination, chaos theory, Europe, neuroscience, and the patience of fighting. They have come from the seminary pastor, an article (page 9), a friend, pictures on the wall, the odd fellow sitting across from me, and even a Harry Potter movie. Ordinarily, one would not think that organ transplants had anything to do with finding a call at a church. And ordinarily one would not think that neuroscience had anything to do with coffee shops. But they do. They really do. At least in my mind they do, which brings us to perhaps the one logical connection here: that chaos theory has everything to do with the state of my mind.

So I wanted to write posts today about all of these things, giving myself the opportunity to form into words all of the wisdom that has been given to me today. But as they accumulated, perhaps a “greater” wisdom was found: that there is a great deal of sustenance to be found in the everyday workings of life. Or that my mind works on overload to analyze the small things – I haven’t quite decided which of those two things it is yet. But for now, I’ll assume that at least the former is true and assert that the things that bring life and faith and imagination are the very ordinary things of each day. It’s not so much that I “learned” something today, although I could certainly say that as well. But it wasn’t learning in the sense of acquired knowledge – it was more that I was reminded of things I already knew, but had temporarily forgotten. And I heard thoughts that helped me rearrange how I viewed certain parts of my life. And I have found these reminders and “vision adjusters” to be the catalysts of my continued hope, motivation, imagination, and peace. Or, in other words, the catalysts of my sustenance.

So praise God for the man in white tube socks, untied black shoes, blue shorts, and fleece jacket who sits in the coffee shop trying finger-meditation-exercises while reading How God Changes Your Brain. Because it is this man - or really the presence and observance of this type of man - that prompts these musings and makes life interesting.

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