The Best

This morning I was thinking about some of the best things in life.

Yesterday I had lunch with a friend. He became a Christian in the past year or so, and wanted to understand the Bible better. We talked about the goal of understanding the Bible -- that is, to know Jesus, not just to gain information -- and I showed him an illustration for "getting hold" of the Bible -- hear, read, study, memorize, meditate. These five ways correspond to the five fingers on a hand, with meditation going with the thumb. With meditation, any of the others will help you "grab onto" the Bible, but without it -- well, try picking up a book without using your thumb. This made sense to him, and he proposed starting to read from Matthew and meeting again in a few weeks to discuss what he read.

Talk about putting a spring in my step! What could be more exciting than helping a friend grow in faith and in his relationship with Jesus? It was a high point of my week.

Another of the best things in life: a couple of summers ago, Carol brought home a box of mangoes - the kind that we used to call "Hayden" (spelling?) when we were kids. The pleasurable sensations had an intensity to rival... you know what.

Speaking of you-know-what, a peak outdoor experience that we had in Japan, ah, nevermind, you never can tell who's reading this.

Here's a G-rated one: On a trail leading to Pear Lake in Sequoia National Park, there is a rock formation called The Watchtower. If you look on a topo-map, this is a place where lots of contour lines bunch together. It really cannot be captured on film, but you can try.

Why do human beings write? The combination of disciplined thought and the application of creative energy toward an achievable goal -- that is one of the enjoyable activities of life. As Brooks says in "The Mythical Man-Month," it's a reflection of our Creator's character, the creativity that can be seen "in every leaf and every snowflake." Brooks was talking about computer programs, but really any creative impulse is an expression of our Father's creative nature, which he gave to us when he made us. Making a delicious meal is like that too. Music, architecture, mathematics.