May 10, 2010

• Slide

  An experiment in thumbnails. 

  Isn't it curious that when you slide, you can only slide down?  

  I love Physics.  Not that I'm very good at it, but I love the concept of it.  Science and math in general thrill me because it's a direct study of God's handiwork. A non-subjective look at the object lessons He's left behind for us. Triangles are of particular significance to me. Don't talk romance and roses; just talk to me about perpendicular bisectors in a triangle. You think I jest. Geometry rules. 

  

  You have no idea how much I enjoy looking at that picture above.  (Count THREE perpendicular bisectors. Wow.  Circles and radii and arcs...  I'm in math heaven.) The only thing missing from this diagram are some numbers (Although I'm pretty sure I can figure out all of the angles and arcs, at least.)  The avenues of answers you can garner from this picture is astounding.  I feel like I am handling the wisdom of God and it's awesome. I want to be one of those people who can look at a water spout and be able to calculate its curve.  (It's a downward opening parabola.)  Yeah, I understand that this makes me sound like a nerd. Emphasis on that word.  I really wish I can be better friends with math.  

  

  Back to sliding.  Sure, I can talk about kinetic energy and gravity and acceleration (maybe), but let's be practical. Have you ever slid up a hill?  

  I am not unfamiliar with the Christian struggle. A part of me wishes that I could've died after my conversion, having tasted the full goodness of God, and having been fully aflame for Him.  (This is not the greatest post-mother's day post.  Happy Mother's Day, mom.  No, I don't mean this in the sense that I wish I were never alive.  Thanks for giving birth to me.  (Yes, this is a parenthetical parenthesis to say that my mom doesn't read my blog.))  Sometimes I wish I didn't have to experience the heartache of letting people down.  God. My friends. My students. Myself. Everyone. Sometimes I wish I didn't have to experience failure.  Nobody likes failure.  Especially when important things are on the line.  Like eternal futures.  Who wants to epic fail on that?  (Especially if it's not your own?)  It's not pretty.

   

  Sure, you can argue that life isn't the Olympics. But perhaps it's more than that. Perhaps there is more at stake here than some metal plating or alloy that you hang around your neck (and get paid some loot for.)  Even Paul says, "run, so that you may win." (1 Corinthians 9:24)  Perhaps our own inability to run with patience and endurance is causing others to stumble as well... humanity is a tangled web and our decisions do impact the world around us. 

  And so we slide.  I often compare being a Christian to climbing a mountain.  The air is thin up there.  It's rough.  They say when you climb Everest, you get to an altitude where breathing feels like you're trying to inhale through a straw.  Add a few scores of weight to your back and your perpetual stairclimber set to 'torture' and you've got recipe for a whole ton of people backing out fast.  Oh, and it's -70 degrees.  (If that ain't 'strait and narrow' I don't know what is.) 

  

  Sometimes, making it up the hill (and not sliding) means you keep moving.  Sometimes it means setting up camp and holding tight until the storms pass. Sometimes it means using ropes and poles and sharp sticks.  It always requires the proper equipment.  Sliding is heartbreaking.  It might've taken you 20 minutes to climb what you've slid down in a minute flat.  It's gravity's demand on your body.  And technically, you are at its mercy.  

  So let us likewise put on the whole armor of God.  Get on them spikey shoes.  Learn how to breathe through a straw.  Don't be surprised when the way gets rough.  Don't be surprised when you slide, it's downward.  It's easier to go with the nature of things, and the work gets undone fast.  But more importantly, don't be surprised if your guide still wants to get to the top.  

  I hear the view is awesome.  it's worth getting back up. "For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes."  Proverbs 24:16

  <insert your perfect view of Heaven. It's closer than you think. The Kingdom of God is at hand.>

   

  • 9:45 pm
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