Course Charting – More Lessons

A big part of living is recognizing life’s lessons.

I started this little exercise, not just to relive old times, but to see what I might learn from them. Charting my course into mystery and music has already revealed three very important truths.

1. Wonder is a natural part of life. I heard this truth articulated just this weekend at a conference. The session leader was talking about the allure of mystery and suspense in entertainment. He said humans are naturally attracted to such things because God created us with an aptitude for wonder. That explains my childhood fascination with dinosaurs and outer space, as well as my continued affinity for mystery. I am simply responding to a trait put into me by my Creator. Of course, not everyone is interested in the same things I am, but that doesn’t negate the truth. It simply means that wonder is found in a great variety of places. The creation is huge, and diverse enough to stir the wonder in every heart.

2. Perception matters. I mentioned Joel Barton’s comment about my “guitar player hands.” I’ve often wondered what it was that caused him to say that. Was he just being kind toward me? That in itself is remarkable in light of the constant harassment I got from most of the other guys. Did he perceive something about me that I did not? That too is intriguing given the fact that were both just fourteen years old; not exactly the age of keen insight. Whatever it was, those words had a tremendous impact upon my own perception of myself. They encouraged me to do something I may not have had the faith or courage to do. So perception matters a lot – the perception others have of us, as well as the perception we have of ourselves. Sometimes one can change the other.

3. “Impossible” things are sometimes possible. Nothing in my life up to the moment I stepped out on that stage at the talent show could have suggested I would ever do such a thing. I was shy and introverted. I’d only been playing guitar for a few months. I had never sung anything outside of a large group. And I just didn’t have the cool factor that guys like Joel Barton seemed to have been born with. But there I was, and I have the picture to prove it. Since then, I’ve done other “impossible” things; things that my younger self just wouldn’t have believed. I suspect everyone has. Now that I understand this, I cannot help but wonder about the things that I currently think are impossible. What wondrous stories would my future self tell me if we were to meet?

There they are – three more truths revealed by my Course Charting. Looking at them, it occurs to me that these truths are constantly in danger of being ignored. I know because I ignored them from time to time. I miss the wonder of life when I stop looking. I miss the significance of perception when I stop listening. And the impossible remains impossible when I stop believing.