one of the ONLY things i know for sure this november is where my keys and phone are... because i bought that little chip/dip bowl to put them in and it is so cute that i actually end up putting them in there. and now i can find them all of the time. so do you remember how last year i did a little series called KNOW-vember? frankly i didn’t remember it until i was searching to blog archives the other day for something. so i don’t hold it against you if you forgot...
i did a whole month on things i KNOW for sure. well, wouldn’t it be so ironic if a scant year later i find myself knowing LESS than i knew the year before? yes, hilarious. ironic. and slightly depressing.
but i am sure that a blogging commitment of a little factoid a day that i DON’T KNOW will make that depression go away. or so bad that i seek therapy. so it is win/win.
may i introduce to you a blog theme for november. (insert drum roll or huge sigh of regret here)..
things i DON’T KNOW-vember.
let’s start with the ONE thing i know (besides the key and phone placement because really that doesn’t matter for an eternity. it just seems like an eternity when one is searching for one’s keys...)
2 Timothy 1:12
...for I know Whom I have believed,
and I am convinced that He is able to guard
until that Day
what has been entrusted to me.
i love that the word “know” in that first part has these synonyms...
a knowledge grounded on personal experience,
to see with the mind's eye, signifies a clear and purely mental perception,
a knowledge obtained by proximity to the thing known.
then the word “convinced” or in the king jimmy “persuaded”...
to be induced by words (or in this case the Word) to believe
to strive to please
to listen to, obey, yield to, comply with
to trust, have confidence, be confident.
now the word “able” is a really good one...
powerful, mighty, strong
mighty in wealth and influence
able to bear calamities with fortitude and patience
having the power to accomplish something
excelling
and the word “guard” means these things..
to guard, to watch, keep watch
to guard or watch, have an eye upon: lest he escape
to guard a person (or thing) that he may remain safe lest he suffer violence, be despoiled, etc. to protect
to protect one from a person or thing
to keep from being snatched away, preserve safe and unimpaired
to guard from being lost or perishing
so just what is He guarding? in the king jimmy the words are what i have “committed unto Him” and they are all represented by one greek word... “paratheke” which is...
something one has deposited in another’s trust.
something one has committed to another’s charge.
something one has place beside or near or set before. f
rom a root word that means “can carry no longer” or “kneel down”.
all of those word meanings make me KNOW more surely the ONE THING I KNOW. the rest of the things i can carry no longer and i kneel down at the feet of the ONE whom i know holds the keys to all of the other stuff.
that is what i KNOW. now onto a month of stuff i don’t know. which really started last night with the “i don’t know when to say “YES” and when to say “NO” to my kids. obviously. but they did make it home. 15 minutes before curfew. and they had a great time. and heard the band play their favorite song by that band. a band that is named after a spiral galaxy, Messier 83. whose description of their own album was "very, very, very epic". yes, they used three very’s to describe their “epic” album. the album features a more focused approach to song structure and form, and the lead singer also stated that the main influence of the album came from music of the 1980s: "I think that ’80s music is such a brilliant period for music history. It was the occasion for me to do a tribute to this ’80s music, but [it was] also a tribute to my teenage years because the main theme of the album is being a teenager, and being a teenager means a lot to me.” thank you wikipedia. thus wrapping up your indie music knowledge of the day. things you and i didn’t know. well, i didn’t know. and i really didn’t want or need to know...
but then i remember my parents. who sent me to england to study shakespeare. they didn’t want or need to know about shakespeare. i am sure that they saw NO benefit to my life or future by studying shakespeare. and gosh darn it, england was a long way away and an expensive little educational experience. so even though it sounds more educational and snobby to say that i studied shakespeare at the royal shakespeare company... it really isn’t that different than the fact that my kids love indie music. it is an interest. granted there are some unsavory elements in indie music (sometimes) but have you people read titus andronicus? i saw it performed on a stage. it was a bloody mess. and i mean “bloody mess” in the more american way than the british way.
so i don’t know about this area of when to say “no” and when to “let them go”.
but i do know this... there is One who Knows. and He is able to guard. a young girl with punk rockers surrounding her in the seedy streets of london. or two kids at a late night concert. but tonight we go to bed earlier. that i do KNOW....