When It Was All New

At Jubilee Lake, in northeastern OregonDo you remember exploring the world as you grew up? Lately I've been watching kids and how they explore their world and make connections, draw conclusions. It's fascinating.

We forget what it was like; we take for granted all the learning that can happen in a single hour, and even more in just one day. We forget what it's like to use all five of our senses, to take in things that are new to us all the time. We forget what it means to see something and take it at face value, because we don't have prior knowledge that causes us to make assumptions and to judge. We forget how fun it is to explore something that is completely unfamiliar.

You haven't yet developed much of a measuring stick when you're a little one.

Do you remember the smell of the plastic parts of a new doll? The silkiness of her hair? The unfamiliar feel of her clothes?

Do you remember what it was like to caress the face or arms of a family member you loved, and to learn the shapes and the lines and textures, or to play with the floppiness of your grandma's underarms?

Do you remember when every song in church was new? (Okay, I guess that's still sometimes the case.) Do you remember when you never had anything to compare them with? Do you remember how doing movements with songs made you remember them forever?

Do you remember what it was like, trying to get your balance to ride your bike on two wheels for the first time? Remember how scary it was as you wobbled, unsure of staying balanced? Do you remember the triumph, the feeling of being more "yourself" when you got the hang of it?

Do you remember comparing the feel of different kinds of grass when you'd lie or sit on it? Do you remember the smell of grass, and the bugs crawling through it if you looked closely? Do you remember pondering why grass and trees were pretty much all green?

Do you remember what it was like to read your first letters, your first words, and how it opened up a whole new world to you? Do you remember the first story you read from start to finish? Did anyone celebrate that?

Do you remember what it was like to throw rocks into water and watch the way the water splashed, and how the ripples worked, and to try to predict what would happen if you threw a different rock ... or just threw a rock differently?

Do you remember when the Bible stories were all new and unfamiliar and interesting?

Do you remember when you first strained your ears to hear God talking to you, and what you heard or didn't hear, and what you thought about that?

I wonder what it will be like someday when all things are made new. Will we return to the mode of learning everything from scratch, with brand new information coming in through our senses (and maybe there will be more than five senses) every moment of every new day?

He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." Rev. 21: 5