My father was a man of strong faith. He noticed things and wondered about them.
Once during a particularly thought provoking Sunday sermon, he leaned over to whisper in my ear. I was sure he was going to share some additional bit of profound wisdom.
He said, “Do you see that woman on the right on the back row in the choir?” I did.
He said, “She has a really long neck.”
By now, my mother was giving both of us a look of disapproval.
But Daddy continued. It turned out he was not just girl watching. He was marveling at God’s Creation.
He said, “Isn’t it amazing how God made all of us so different!”
I don’t remember a word the preacher said that day. But I do remember my father’s mini-sermon. I began to look around and more fully appreciate God’s Creation.
When I sometimes dismissed some of the things Daddy wondered about, he would laugh and say, “Have you no curiosity?”
Sometimes his wondering about how God worked led him in the wrong direction. Such was the case of his being sure he had figured out how God set the time for people to die.
As he read the obituaries, he noticed a trend. He said, “Have you ever noticed how people die around the time of their birthday?”
After he noticed the trend, every time he found another thing to support his conjecture, he was sure he had figured it out. People must have an expiration date, like milk!
However, his “discovery” had an adverse side effect. Every year around his birthday, he would get very nervous. He thought his time on earth might be drawing to a close. He could never fully celebrate life because he was preoccupied with death.
After years of birthday nervousness, Daddy died at age 96. His birthday was in May. He died November 13, 2001, six months after his last birthday and six months before what would have been his next birthday.
I imagine God welcomed Daddy into Heaven with a smile, as He told him there were no clocks or calendars there … and from then on life would be one long birthday with plenty to celebrate.
God lets us admire His Creation. He lets us wonder. But all our wondering should never lead to wandering off the path only He knows.
He calls us to trust Him. He has The Plan and it is a good one.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares The Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11
You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in Your Book . Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed!
Psalm 139:16
