We're All Humans, Aren't We?

Monday night, Amanda and I had a nice, long conversation (read: 5
hours) outside Trinity’s library on the stone bench. We had meant to go
for a walk, but that didn’t happen as we sat down and started talking
and didn’t stop until somewhere around 2 in the morning.

The conversation meandered and wandered here and there, like two people
browsing the different art displays in an art museum. Most of the art
will be just merely glanced at, but others will provoke thought and discussion and
examined for a little while longer. Topics were picked up, discussed
and put down again. Some topics lasted a couple of minutes, other
lasted for much longer.

There is one topic that we both discussed for a long time because it
was weighing on our minds
and that was the topic of Life. Not the meaning of it, mind you, nor
any of that other stuff philosophers analyze. It was about OUR Life.
We both have changes coming up in our lives involving jobs and schools
and moving home. Yes, the big questions: What’s going to happen? What
do we want out of
it? What do we have in store for the future? What does God want for us?
Where does He want us?

Sometimes I wonder what would happen if God came down from Heaven (or
at least one of his angels) and beckoned to me and, as I approached,
pulled out a scroll from his pocket and unrolled it in front of me and
said, “So, this… is your life.”

I would look at it, my face aglow from the light coming from the scroll
(all things from heaven must glow, as you know…). “Ah, there’s when I
was born. So, that’s why that
happened? I didn’t know I was supposed to be there then. Hey, this is
where I am now. So, that’s what’s going to happen? And that? Wow,
didn’t see that one coming. So, that’s how I’m going to die? Huh. Go figure.”

As soon as I was done reading, the scroll would be rolled up and put
away. “So, you’ve seen the rest of your life. You know exactly what
will happen to you: the choices you’ll make, the people that will come
into your life, the events that’ll happen, the exact date of your death
on Earth, but more importantly, the type of man you will become.”

How would I react? Would I be more confident and less stressed because
I know exactly what will happen? Or would I be more stressed due to the
painful circumstances and events I know were coming? Would I be
inspired to work hard and always keep on plugging or would it inspire
me to be apathetic because I won’t have to work as hard because I know
exactly what will happen?

There’s an old proverb that gets misquoted often: Ignorance is bliss.
When we come up to great change, when it feels like we’re just about to
jump outside of a plane without a parachute, sometimes not knowing what
will happen will inspire us to work harder and to reach out to God and
others in our lives in greater faith than we had previously. “I don’t
know what will happen, but God, I have faith that this is what you want
me to do. Help me.” How is that ever a bad thing?

And you know… He has never turned down a request for help.