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“Through every rift of discovery some seeming anomaly drops out of the darkness, and falls, a golden link into the great chain of order” (Edwin Hubbell Chapin).
DISCOVERIES CAN BE DISAPPOINTING SOMETIMES, BUT MORE OFTEN THEY’RE DELIGHTFUL. Rather than resist or run away from them, we ought to welcome discoveries, even when they require adjustments in the way we think and live. Every genuine discovery is always the revelation of a bit more of the “great chain of order.” Having discovered some new truth, we’re in a better position to see how wonderfully every truth is linked to all the others.
I always enjoy coming to know people who live with the expectancy of enchanting discoveries. Such people seem to get out of bed every morning anticipating that they’re going to discover something beneficial, and when I interact with them, they whet my own appetite for learning. Someone has said that “the world is brimming with happy thoughts just waiting to be discovered.” I believe that’s a realistic way to look at life, and if we made it our own, it’s a viewpoint that most of us would profit from.
J. Robert Oppenheimer made this comment: “Discovery follows discovery, each both raising and answering questions, each ending a long search, and each providing the new instruments for a new search.” Nobody is completely ignorant, and nobody completely knowledgeable; we are somewhere on the long path between the two. Discoveries move us forward on that path. They show us things we didn’t know, but they also point us toward the future, motivating us in the direction of things yet to be learned.
It seems obvious, but it still needs to be pointed out: discoveries require courage. If we’re not willing to leave the safety of our present understanding, we won’t enjoy the thrill of seeing new vistas and new horizons. From their armchairs, fearful folks don’t forge ahead.
But discovery also takes faith. To be discoverers, we have to be willing to “see” some things before they can be seen! On some days, no new discovery will be “in sight,” and it’s on those days that we must keep our confidence up. Good things are waiting for those who form their hunches carefully and then follow their hunches intently.
“They are ill discoverers that think there is no land, when they see nothing but sea” (Francis Bacon).
Gary Henry – WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com
