"Circular Thinking....................."

Monday evening showed possibility of rain, some showers already encountered earlier and a few dark clouds yet scattered across the sky. I went to the park anyway, taking my chances; and, as it happened, managed seven laps around the soccer field with nothing but an initial light sprinkle that quickly passed. Sometimes my route is changed to include circling the tennis courts on the south end; but, on this occasion, being the only one in that neck of the woods moved me to just stay in orbit. The hour it takes to complete the three miles is opportunity for me, a bonus beyond the exercise achieved, prayer attempted, but more like temporary encounters here and there, the human mind hard to keep from going down its own path. One minute I’m talking with God; the next I find myself off on a tangent, chasing a thought, chewing over Scripture. Years ago, an elder in the church as much as rebuked me before the whole congregation concerning my view shared on a certain Bible verse. There was no anger on my part; but the event has stayed with me, giving me no wish to ever repeat it in the sense of me offending someone else in regard to who has the most correct deciphering of the Word. It occurred to me yesterday that, as far as we know from the Book, when the first murder was committed, in the whole world there was only four people living together in the same neighborhood, the event a family fratricide and the cause of death an argument over how to worship the Creator. Jesus once accused the religious bunch in Jerusalem of “straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel”. I believe in spelunking the depths of all that He is, in searching the mysteries of this existence He has given, and in realizing that, no matter how much we think we have conquered in our journey thus far, we’ve not even scratched the surface in knowing Him for who He is. Christ “in” me isn’t a doctrinal tenet, but a tangible connection with truth. Anything beyond that is just my humanity trying to work out the details for myself……