lessons learned

I really enjoy when someone is honest with me and tells me how they screwed something up, how they fixed it, and, most important, what they learned from it.

When I was in the environmental consulting biz, I used to attend lots of technical conferences mostly to hang with other geology geeks, but more to learn how to do my job better.

I was forever seeking news ways to clean up my hazardous waste sites faster and more efficiently.....who wasn't. got clients to please and regulators on my back....

but my learning methods were different from my fellow geeks.

every tom, dick, and harry had the latest and greatest technique to clean your site. I never attended these sessions.

i would attend these sessions where the presenter would explain how they blew it. screwed up the site assessment process, engineering design, installation, or operation. Or worse they screwed up everything.

I really learned when they shared what they did not take into account or wished they would have spent money on or a variable they had not considered.

when they shared what they learned....we all were the beneficiaries.

honesty. vulnerability. risk. I love that!

the narrative of the bible is chock full of this sort of stuff. David, Moses, Joshua, Saul, Judas, Peter, John-Mark, etc....all of these characters screwed something up, did complete God's command, or just plain wimped out.

why is it that modern followers of Jesus are so afraid to admit their mistakes, share them, and let other learn from them?

babes...

this post ain't what you are thinking....but did I get you to click on the word "babes". muahh!

"from the mouths of babes" is what i am talking about today. i really do not like that phrase. but i will use just this once. for recently "out of the mouths of babes" came a great, simple, and yet complex question.

while talking about merits spiderman and batman my 6 yr old son, justin, asked "if Jesus was born isn't he younger than adam and eve?"....

holy unanswerable question Batman!

"ummm....well yes and no, son. Jesus was/is both younger and older than Adam and Eve. can we get back to spiderman, son?"

here my 6 yr old boy was asking one of the deeper theological questions....."what is this stuff about Jesus being both God and man all about? I simple don't get it"

whether you are indifferent, critic, or fan of the Christian faith, you have to admit....it is a good question...eh?

so being a good dad, seminary student, and some what of a academic nerd, I gave him the standard "yes/no" answer. he asked a few follow up questions, then seemed satisfied with my inept answers.

then he got back to the topic of spiderman and batman.

it was one of those teachable moments. not for my boy, but for me. Justin taught me a lesson on faith. let me explain.

often we think we must and can understand the mysteries of our existence, whether they be theological, philosophical, scientific, or "why traffic slows on the Severn River Bridge....EVERYDAY!!", etc.

but Justin's simple faith to except that he may just not completely understand some things and still be ok with that fact.... this was very instructive to me.

often in our search for truth, knowing, lessons, whatever....we remove the mystery.

our pursuit of knowing chases out the wisdom of living in the mystery.

lesson from the 6 year old genius boy: embrace the mystery while seeking to learn...