Holy Curiosity

We went to a hockey game last night.  If I've ever been to one before, I've forgotten it!  So I should have been excited about the opportunity.  Mostly, it moved too fast and made too little sense for me.  I kept trying to superimpose my minimal understanding of OTHER sports (baseball, basketball and football) on it.  As far as I could figure out, hockey has nothing in common with ANY of them except that each one requires a uniform and an object that is thrown or hit.  (Oh...and referees or umpires and greasy food smell.)
Not wanting to waste the experience, I tried to apply Albert Einstein's advice:   
Never lose a holy curiosity. 
If I learned a spiritual lesson from the hockey game, it is this:
Superimposing past experience or knowledge on my present circumstances CAN be counterproductive to faith.
Not ALWAYS--because past experiences of God's faithfulness CAN provide grounds for trusting Him
in present or future experiences.  But God can't be confined to a "box" of previous experience or knowledge!
And sometimes faith means moving forward in spite of  preexisting conditions,
self-limiting thoughts, and  preconceived ideas.
Life can be as fast-moving and senseless as the hockey game was to me last night.  
But faith is being SURE of what we hope for and CERTAIN of what we do not see.
(Hebrews 11:1)
Living by faith in makes it possible to enjoy life
even when it appears to be moving too fast and/or doesn't make sense.
Faith is fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, so that we will not grow weary and lose heart (Hebrews 12:2-3)

18 comments:

  1. Well, I really enjoyed this, Rebecca.
    You're like me in your lack of under-
    standing sports. I just never cared
    for anything except baseball. That
    I can understand. Going to go check
    out all your other interesting blogs
    now. Have a lovely weekend. We have
    lots of snow again!
    Keeping my eyes on Jesus!
    Sandy

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  2. Your comparrison to life being like a hockey game is excellent. To bad we have miles between us as I think it would be awesome to be in a Bible study with you. It is so important to keep our eyes focused on the Lord...when I don't I sink fast.

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  3. I like that!

    What a great reminder to keep our eyes open for the Lord in every new moment, every new circumstance ... no matter how seemingly mundane, or familiar, or predictable.

    Blessings,
    Kathleen

    P.S. OK, now I have to interject a wee bit of humor. When I first saw your title, the thought came to me: "Holy Curiosity, Batman" :)

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  4. I smiled as I read this post my friend as hockey has been a part of my life, great metaphor Rebecca well written....:-)Hugs

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  5. Great thoughts, Rebecca. I'm not a sports fan, but I sure can identify with the faith life, especially lately! We are on a big adventure since we resigned. The Lord is so faithful!

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  6. Great insightful lesson, Rebecca! Those Hebrew verses are some of my favorites! Happy Weekend!

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  7. Great analogy of the hockey game to the
    faith-life. You have a gift for making spiritual applications to everyday life and activities. I so appreciate that.

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  8. Bernie! Where WERE you when I needed you (to help me figure out the game)?????

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  9. Sassy, THAT was ringing in MY mind, too! :)

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  10. I have never seen a hockey game..even with the pro team in our city, so I would be right there with you.
    The word you gave is just great...I will be coming back and reading again and again. I am seeing that God is giving me some Holy Curiosity in my scripture reading this year and it is allowing me not to just work from my past readings of His word.

    This is a good New Year word. Thanks

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  11. Well said Rebecca! Although I used to love Hockey when I was younger, seen a few Blackhawks games. That was fun. I also ice skated while all of the boys played hockey back in grade school so I was familiar with the game. This brought back fond memories for me!
    Love Di ♥

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  12. I actually would love to see a live hockey game! I'm not a sports type either, but we did our "time" while raising the two boys. Did you get those pictures with your cell phone? They are great! Good analogies to the hockey game and the game of life. There certainly times when it seems to move too fast and makes little sense. But God...!

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  13. Yep, Jacquelyn! Cell phone. If I should ever get a REAL camera, you'll probably hear the shouting all the way over there in Akron area!

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  14. Like you, I have little tolerance for hockey (my boys go frequently to see the Hurricanes play in Raleigh) and a high tolerance for faith's cultivation. I don't want my past experiences to limit my understanding/faith in God. Instead, I want to see them as a bank account, into which he's made huge deposits so that I might draw from it in times of limited understanding.

    Beautiful analogy, friend. Keep to the road of faith this week.

    peace`elaine

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  15. Dearest Rebecca! I LOVE your attitude and approach to life! You are always such an encouragement and inspiration!!! Just stopping by to leave you some love here!! ~Janine xoxo

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  16. One of my favorite faith quotes is "Faith is a bird that feels dawn breaking and sings while it is still dark" (Tagore). Even in life's dark valleys when life seems to be going too fast, there's an inner knowledge that God is with me--and I can sing!

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  17. Dear Rebecca,
    I do agree with everything you wrote here. Though I am not at all familiar with hockey, aside from the team uniforms, right, and an object to hit, and a goal to strive for, I should think like you that it might be similar to football, or even basketball.

    But then that would be superimposing a previous experience on something new... and it would also deprive me of the blessings of watching the game with a "holy curiosity."

    I did read this post a few times. It is so beautiful and again, Rebecca, your no-nonsense approach to life shines through this post.

    It is a good thing I was able to read it.

    Love
    Lidj

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  18. Rebecca I am with you on hockey, have never been and it is not on my bucket list, however I am glad you got to experience something new
    Your thoughts of faith and learning to trust God are so true,, Remembering God's faithfulness of the past to dh and I has always made it much easier for us to trust Him even more. We just had a recent circumstance that once again He proved it, and not in the way I had planed for Him to do it. Though He always has to remind me of who is in charge.
    Once agin I leave so encouraged.
    Hugs,
    Sue

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Writing a Song a Week #3

Writing a Song a Week #3
♪ I wait for the Lord; my soul waits and in his word I hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning ♪ (Psalm 130:5-6)