Weekly Meditation
Apollos began to speak boldly in the synagogue; but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained the Way of God to him more accurately. (Acts 18:26)
I just learned about a new game, new to me anyway. It's "The Wikipedia Game." The object is to get from one Wikipedia page to another seemingly unrelated page by clicking on links within the articles. The person who does it the fastest or with the fewest clicks is the winner. As one description put it, "Fun and surprise await as you go down the 'Wikipedia rabbit hole' and find the 'degrees of separation' of sometimes wildly different topics in this addictive and educational game."
This appeals to me because I feel as though I spend half my life in 'rabbit holes.' I may be doing research for a sermon, and I will come across an unfamiliar word, so I will look it up, but the definition may include a reference to something else so I will check that out and before long I am ten degrees of separation from where I began.
For example, writing this meditation brought to mind the phrase "curiosity killed the cat." We have all heard that one before, right? I wondered where the phrase came from. It goes at least as far back as late 16th century, though originally the phrase was "care killed the cat" with care meaning worry. Curiosity seems to have replaced care in the 20th century as the phrase came to mean, "mind your own business." It turns out, though, curiosity has long been held in low esteem. Even the early church father, St. Augustine, wrote in 397 AD, "God fashioned hell for the inquisitive."
See what I mean?
Unlike St. Augustine, I believe curiosity is a good thing. Acts 18 says Apollos was eloquent and well-versed in the scriptures. He spoke with enthusiasm "and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus." But he still had more to learn and when Priscilla and Aquila took him aside, he was open and willing to discover more.
In an old beer commercial, "the most interesting man in the world" tells viewers, "Stay thirsty." Yes, stay thirsty - thirsty for knowledge, understanding, insight. We will never know everything about God, Jesus, or the world around us, but that should not stop us from being open and willing to discover more.
Now excuse me - I'm curious about the origins of beer.