tests and the progressive power of the wager

interesting how people can be driven to do incredible things just to win a bet… i mean, after playing three games in one day and managing to win the B final, the boys are all sitting together in the dressing room, half dead in pools of their own DNA and someone says 'we should wait around and challenge the winners of the A side to an A+B final for bragging rights!'

and for an instant you can tell from the glances around the room that many of the guys are ready to go one more round if someone just says 'okay.'

composer maurice ravel (1875-1937) wrote arguably his most famous composition bolero- over 9 minutes of music written in 9 minutes- on a napkin at the local pub on a bet.

photographer eadward muybridge (1830-1904) invented motion picture photography to prove his assertion that, for a horse mid-gallup, there is a point where all four hooves are off the ground.

the progressive power of the wager is undeniable. we take on great challenges just to make the big point and win the big prize... to prove that, in john eldredge's words, 'we have what it takes.'

even God, in the book of Job, seeks to prove the integrity of ‘his servant, Job’ against the accusations of one particularly recalcitrant angel. God’s right to brag in the story of job isn’t because God is powerful or even because God has proven a point. God’s right to brag is found in the fact that he sees in job something eternal- something which neither time nor circumstance can impugn- that this man is capable of incredible strength and faith, and the only way to demonstrate this is to challenge the affluence that his righteousness could be attributed to.
(Job 1.6-22;2.1-10; 42.7-16)

as a teacher, i would give tests to the students, but an exam would never be given to my students to destroy them… on the contrary: a good teacher only gives a test when that teacher is sure that the students are ready to move to the next unit of study. it is given to provide the student with the opportunity to demonstrate that which the teacher already knows to be true- that the student is ready to move on. often the test is the only way that some students ever learn about themselves what their teachers already know.




however, it’s hard to remember this when life is spinning out of control all around us- when the whole world seems to be koyaanisqatsi (life out of balance) and we have to move at that speed just to keep up with the rest of the machine. the problem with having life move at the pace it does is that, like trying to sing a tricky traditional song or hymn, our focus becomes fixed upon keeping up rather than drawing the content from the experience. the lessons are lost in our deliberation.

For centuries, mystics, prophets and contemplatives have been called to the solitude and the silence of the ‘cave of the heart’ before they embarked upon their mission to the world.
(John Michael Talbot)

however, we mustn't remain in the cave, as hermits escaping the perils of a corrupt and fallen society. did you notice talbot's words? "before they embarked upon their mission to the world." the point of the hermitage is to prepare for the mission.

mission often comes in surprising places. in scripture, israel is dragged away by the babylonians into exile and their future as God's 'chosen people' is in jeopardy. however, rather than hear from their resident holy man that they are to sit in mourning for the age of david, the people are told to build houses, plant gardens and raise families. apparently, there is a lot yet to be learned amidst the toil. apparently they are still God's 'chosen' and are to bring light and life even into this land of exile, living amongst the huns and being God's light of hope and freedom in their own slavery.
(Jeremiah, 29.4-14.)



the recent adam sandler film, click, tells the story of a guy who purchases a universal remote to make his life "a little easier- less complicated." the device enables him to, among other things, fast-forward through the workaday aspects of life. unfortunately for him, he discovers that it is beneath the stuff of regular everyday life that true inspiration and hope of fulfillment are buried.

see, waiting is tough, but it is part of life on this fallen planet bound by time, and is our mission- a context in which God develops and displays in us the things that bring him greater honour... the things that give him bragging rights.