SHARED IGNORANGE

A few weeks ago I posted a blog about the lessons I have learned. The list of 10 or so things represent some of the concrete truths and tricks that I have been afforded the opportunity of grasping thus far in this journey called life. I am thankful, for it seems that those lessons, along with a handful of others that didn’t make said list symbolize the tangible, understandable, and rational part of life.
But I must admit, and have probably mentioned before, that the fraction of what I know and understand about life is very small for me.

Yep, let’s say that the average life consists of 10 percent. How much do I understand? 1 and ½ percent. The rest is filled with issues and questions that for the most part absolutely baffle me (please tell me you caught the Tommy Boy reference there…otherwise the whole 10% thing isn’t nearly as effective).
So in a tribute to all things completely not understandable in this life (at least not as yet) here is a sampling of the top questions present in my life at this…..present…time….presented in list form!

1) What’s next? For some unfortunate reason I always feel the need to look ahead, to know (or try to know) what the future holds. Sometimes it’d be nice to sit back and enjoy the present, but NOOOOO! I’d rather concern myself with something that is completely unforeseeable and virtually uncontrollable!

2) Will I ever make music like I want to? I myself am tired of this question. Of course the question has evolved over time. It used to be “will I ever play music again.” Now that I’m leading worship, I just ask, “Will I ever play music like I want to again?” It’s an annoying question! Makes me feel much like an ingrate! However, there is this writer inside of me dying to burst out and exercise his preverbal artistic voice!

3) How much wood COULD a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood? (that’s harder to type than you think!!)

4) What is this Church thing really supposed to look like? I feel pretty certain that we haven’t quite arrived yet with our current version of church. I’m even more afraid that we’re going the opposite way of what we’re supposed to. Now how do make a course correction and go back to God’s original plan and intent? (oops that’s two questions in one…oh well….it’s my blog…I can do that if I want…can’t I?…oh man that’s three!!)

5) Could we really exercise enough patience to become millionaires? I’ve been listening to and reading Dave Ramsey a lot lately and he has me convinced that we can do this. And literally, we are just a few baby steps away from putting ourselves in a good position to do this in the future. I mean it will take years (so don’t go thinking you should be asking me for a loan or something!). But the real question is can we live like no one else now so we can one day live like no one else. It seems like a great idea to me!

6) Is America going to make it? I suppose I have let the media really give me a gloom and doom outlook on the future of our country. Or maybe we really are headed for our great downfall. In any case, I sense an increasingly strong amount of instability across our nation politically, economically, spiritually, and otherwisely and I wonder what we can and are going to do. A follow-up question to that one is what country is most appealing so I’ll know where to move when it all breaks loose!

7) Am I doing a good job? I am a constant self-evaluator, and have found this question to be one of the hardest to answer!

8) What’s she thinking? If I were to get the answer to this one, I could quickly cash in and answer my number 5 question!

9) When will life throw us a curve or when will tragedy strike? This will seem like a bit of a morbid thought, but up to this point my life has been way too good and way too easy. Don’t get me wrong, I am very thankful, and I pray for God’s continued blessing and protection. However, I never want to think that I am immune to tragedy, and I just half expect it to hit at any point. Not that I want it to, and not that I live in a state of fear or anxiety about it. I just don’t want to be completely blindsided by it if and when it does come. Anytime I hear of someone whose dealing with a sudden lose or unexpected disaster, I think to myself “that could just as easily be me one day!” Jesus even said that "in this life you will have many troubles".I think it’s a healthy tension I live with…to some degree.

10) If I could learn to break dance, would I do it and why? I just have a vision of me, 1985, a sidewalk, a flattened cardboard box, a nice red leather jacket,a giant boom box and one crazy break dance battle.

And one to grow on……

11) Is a cat’s purring voluntary or involuntary? And does it mean they are happy, sad, angry, or indifferent? (I’m gonna go with indifferent….that seems to be the general feeling…except when there is something new in the floor….then it is indifferent-curiosity). And can they control the volume or do they purposely purr extremely loud when they hover over you at 3 a.m. while you are trying to sleep? Ok this one is getting out of hand.

Literally this list could go on and on. It seems I have way more questions than answers. However, I expect life to be that way. If ever a point in my life comes where I think I’ve got it all figured out, then I must be doing something wrong. I am convinced that a life devoted to following this wonderful-yet- mysterious God as best as possible means a life with many questions. And I think I’m ok with that.