Dumbing it Down

After 5 weeks of living with young children, I’ve been again reminded that it takes special wisdom and expertise to communicate effectively with toddlers. Once instructions and warnings have been given, young parents repeatedly say, “Do you understand?”

Hans and Evelyn

A little person might look her daddy square in the eye and say, “Yes, Daddy.” But later, when behavior proves she didn’t get it after all, both parties get frustrated. Sometimes dumbing it down enough for little ones to understand is a tall order.

I know of one parent who does that with perfection: Father God. The main channel of his instruction and warning is his Word. Through that he communicates from a heart of love and because of that does a flawless job of dumbing it all down for us. But in the Bible he lets us know that we’re quite different than he is, and as a result, even dumbed-down information can be hard for us to absorb.

In 1 Corinthians Paul writes, “We know in part.”   Ain’t that the truth!

Our knowing-part is probably only 1% of what he actually tells us. As it is, we misinterpret passages of Scripture, reading it one way one year and flipping it the next. We also ask questions of our Father in prayer and end up trusting answers that turn out to be only what we wish he’d said to us.

The dilemma of not thoroughly understanding what God tells us seems not to have any solution. The problem is that we’re finite, flawed humans unable to understand an infinite, perfect Father, which is a dispiriting truth, in terms of communication. So, what can be done?

Just like a toddler who hears his daddy’s repeated instructions and eventually learns to understand, we, too, can get God’s drift better and better through his repetition. We might have to hear something over and over, but with enough patient listening, we gradually grow less dumb.

But it gets even better than that. Graciously our Father has let us know that one day he won’t have to dumb it down for us at all, because he will have transformed us into know-it-alls. Not that we’ll know everything about him personally, but we’ll be able to understand his Word and will know how to interpret it accurately.

All the scriptural debates and mysterious questions will suddenly have explanations, and even those of us who are theologically uneducated will know as much as highly esteemed biblical scholars.

Instructions and warnings

In the mean time, all of us who are trying to communicate with young children will just have to lovingly and patiently dumb it down for them, patterning ourselves after our loving and patient Father God who does the same for us.

“We are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him.” (1 John 3:2)

Looking Back?

A quiet evening home alone on New Year’s Eve? Perfect.

A lovely light

As my cottage emptied out tonight and no one but the small fry remained (asleep), I lit some candles and sat by the light of the Christmas tree along with a beautiful cd of orchestra and choir music. It seemed like a good idea to let God choose my thoughts as 2012 ticked toward its end.

Each year on December 31st it seems logical to look back at the year’s low- and high-lights, searching for God’s blessing. So that’s how I assumed he would lead my thoughts. Or maybe he’d remind me of the biggest events of the year past: engagements, weddings, funerals, pregnancies, births, my book.

But as I sat meditating on the scriptural messages coming through the music, the Lord wasn’t leading me to look back through 2012 at all. Instead he wanted me to look at him:

2013

  • Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty, only Thou art holy!
  • What is man that you are mindful of him?
  • Lord, have mercy, for I have placed all my hopes in Thee.
  • There is none beside Thee, perfect in power, in love, and purity.
  • Jesus, Rock of Ages, I hide myself in Thee.
  • Great is Thy faithfulness O God my Father!
  • Morning by morning new mercies I see.
  • To God be the glory!

One after another the marvelous messages came, solidifying my resolve to use 2013 as focus-time toward Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Regardless of what’s happened in the “overfull” year just past, my every tomorrow will be anchored in the heavenlies rather than the “earthlies.” I want to attach myself to the Three-in-One, knowing they will do and be as they always have, bringing stability, peace, and hope.

This year I want to take God at his Word(s) to a greater extreme and trust him more radically than ever before so that by December of 2013, I’ll have seen him more clearly and understood him better than I currently do in December of 2012.

Charmed by Emerald

Tonight, when Emerald and Birgitta came home, I looked at this 10 week old baby and thought, “Last December we knew nothing about her, but here she is, along with the many changes she’s brought along with her. And Emerald is only one example of how different life can become between Decembers.

So, what’s coming in 2013? In a year, we’ll know.

In the mean time, Birgitta, Emerald, and I brought in the new year in conversation with God, knowing the only wise place to spend 2013 is in partnership with him. As tonight’s music so beautifully sang, “All I have needed Thy hand hath provided. Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.”

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!” (Isaiah 43:16)

Worn Thin

Today I broke something that was precious to me. Although I’ve only owned it since 2005, it belonged to my mother’s mother over 100 years ago and was put to daily use in her home at the turn of the last century. After she died, my mom used it throughout her 50 years of marriage, and after she died, I kept it busy at my house: a small, beat-up paring knife.

I blogged about this treasured possession in November, 2009 (A Sharp Surprise) when I thought I’d lost it during the hectic weeks of Nate’s illness. The house had been filled with people during those weeks, and I’d spent very little time in the kitchen, letting others do the cooking. When I finally resumed KP duty, the knife was gone.

Thankfully it turned up later, and since then I’ve used it every day. Its blade is as sharp as a razor, slicing through onions and carrots like they were butter. But tonight I demanded a little too much of that poor old knife, and now it’s ruined.

Having failed to take the meat out of the freezer in time to thaw for dinner, I tried cutting the icy blocks of chicken with Mom’s knife and bing! It snapped in two. I couldn’t believe this trusty tool had failed after 100 years of successes but there it was, lying on the counter in two pieces, no longer fit for anything except the trash bin.

Once in a while I feel much like that over-committed knife, racing through a day in which I can’t possibly accomplish everything I hope to, but trying anyway. Then comes the moment when I snap in two, forgetting what I should have remembered, or saying something I shouldn’t have said, or bursting into tears of frustration. And I become useless.

God says our days aren’t supposed to be that way. If we’re properly aligned with his purposes, snapping in half shouldn’t occur. It’s easy to get stretched as thin as Mom’s knife so that tasks we used to accomplish with ease suddenly bend and break us.

Whether we’ve taken on too much, aren’t maintaining ourselves as we should, or are simply running too fast, we’re trying to manage more than our stretched-thin selves can handle. But if we say yes to only the assignments God gives us, they’ll be perfectly matched to our time and abilities, and the burdens he’ll ask us to carry will feel delightfully lightweight.

So when we sense we’re about to snap, we should look for the reason, and we’ll find out we’re the ones responsible. But it’s never too late to turn from our own agendas and ask God to substitute his. If we’ll follow those instructions, he’ll strengthen our weak spots and prevent us from snapping in two.

And good news: unlike my hundred-year-old kitchen knife which can’t be fixed, we can be.

“You don’t need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ… When you come to him, that fullness comes together for you, too. His power extends over everything.” (Colossians 2:9-10 The Message)