I wonder why…. more now than ever. Why is that, what is that, how does that, where… and it goes on, seemingly forever. I then wonder why do I wonder why?
I watched this toddler in front of me in church, I wondered who she is? I know who she is (she has a name) but I don’t know anything about her, she doesn’t know anything about herself either- it seems that she is a lump of clay, so to speak, to her parents; a seed that will sprout and grow and mature and then fulfill some measure of her creation. But that goes painfully slow in my reference of time. I will more than likely not witness a significant portion of any of that. I may see her for the next few years and then, the family could move or they may choose to move to a different pew and then I may forget about her. I may forget temporarily but just because I do, doesn’t negate the fact that she still will grow, she still will sprout and she will become somebody… important, not important, famous… more than likely not in the worlds view. Influential? I guess that would depend on what you think is influential and your frame of measurement—but she will “be” for some period of time. Daughter, friend, wife, mother- chances eventually are likely for all of these and this will happen without my understanding and hidden from my view or even influence. It could be another nameless person that is traveling a path parallel to mine and because of local circumstances and at certain instances there will be an intersection or two of interaction—small, large or just location, who is to say.
I see these same things when I go to the airport and see people scurrying from gate to gate and I don’t know any of them… who are they, where do they live, what do they do, how come there are so many of them. I watch them and then I don’t, I don’t visualize their specific faces or understand anything about them… but they still are and they will be until they are not at some point. All of this will happen without my knowledge or understanding. It just happens and I don’t know too much about it.
I watched a bug crawl on the concrete the other day, it’s an ugly looking thing, unless you are the mother bug. I look down and watch it and wonder, why are you here, what do you do. What is your function? What makes you tick? I just focus on the one ugly bug down at my feet and don’t notice the dozen or so just around the corner that scurry from their corner to live out their short lives… what are you. It doesn’t recognize me or think of me, other than my foot as an obstacle to get to the pear core that is by my foot. And then I wonder why again.
I wonder why, because it is astounding. I wonder why because of all the people in the world, I am one of them and most do not know me and I surely do not know them…. but somebody does and it’s incomprehensible to me that someone can know them all (times billions and more). How is that done? I more than likely I will never know how, other than it is and I need to be satisfied with the answer for now.
He knows about each of those ugly bugs and everything in-between- all the beautiful; the simple and the grand, the details and path of each, the potential and of pain, the successes and the failures, the long well lived and the short seeming wasted lives. The Great Creator knows why. He may look at my path, at times, and think to himself how those paths resemble that poor little ugly bug and think to himself why indeed?