I read somewhere that if you want to keep your mind fresh and young - and not give way to Old-Timer’s Disease - then you should keep learning new things. Some scientific studies - Science is On Our Side - say that the act of learning is effective in delaying the onset of dementia. Since those who know me best say I live altogether too close to that state now, I guess I’d better pay attention! One of my inspirations was a retired college professor, who in her 80‘s decided to quit saying she wished she had learned to play piano when she was younger, and do something about it. So she started taking lessons from my wife. True, it wasn’t easy for her, but what a joy to see the delight she had in even the smallest improvement.
In that spirit, I’ve got a couple of new things going on now. Many of you had your portrait sketched by Joe McKeever when he was staying with us recently. I was impressed with how disarming and fun it was to sit in the cafe or church and sketch away, so I decided to take it up. Joe told me that you learn fastest by sketching live people right in front of them, so if you see me with a pad and pen I’m just trying to stave off old age. Oh, and an important disclaimer. He figures that it took him about 500 or so attempts before he got good enough that the sketches were “keepers”, and I haven’t even got to 50 yet. Don’t take it personally if I ball up a few and throw them away without letting you see. It’s for your own good!!
“So what,” you ask “does that have to do with Ecclesiastes?” Why, just everything.
We live in the Information Age. Want to find out about sharks or lasers or sharks that shoot lasers? There’s a good chance you can from the comfort of your computer chair - in my case, a Lazyboy, but keep your smart aleck remarks to yourself. But as much information as there is, there is also Mystery, an unfathomable mystery so that no matter how much you learn about one or two aspects of Creation, you can’t grasp it all. Yet fascination with the Mystery of Eternity is hard-wired into all of us. And that means that no matter how much we learn, there’s always more, and in the right circumstances, more is beautiful. That’s the way God made it!
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments and untraceable His ways! Romans 11:33
My advice? Learn something new. If nothing else, it might save your brain, or at least give you more material to bore...uh, interest your spouse or friends. Now stop bothering me, I’ve got faces to sketch.
