dailydatewithgod

There is an image that sticks in my mind when I hear the word ponder. I imagine a person looking at their reflection in a pond. Perhaps it was my way of remembering the meaning of the word when I learned it as a kid. I put an unknown concept with a known one. We all learn this way although it is often couched as an adult learning style. However, from the moment concepts and ideas become known to us we use them to grasp on to new ones. It is why children marvel at new concepts that do not compute with fascination and adults often do so with contempt. As adults, we have so much cemented in that it can feel like a disruption of our existing knowledge when we are asked to take in something novel. Yet it is the very thing that keeps us alive. Being open to ponder the unknown is a way to keep ourselves young. When we encounter an experience where we are resistant to pondering something new we might pause and notice that it will invigorate us and keep us alive. Most often we see it as a threat especially if it calls some well-worn ideas in our minds into question. Some people have a curious template and are more open to ponder the unknown without resistance. Most of us put up some kind of resistance. We see it easily in other people. Especially those with whom we are not able to persuade to see things as we do. The irony in all of this is that we might get along a little bit better with those who hold opposing ideas if we remembered how resistant we can all be when it comes to pondering the unknown. God invites us to ponder the possibilities of our own growth by seeing what is open to us when we are willing to ponder the unknown. God encourages us to use the energy of our heart which houses the compassion needed to ponder the possibility that perhaps the reason someone holds an opposing view is that their mind is resisting the opportunity to ponder and stay young at heart and mind.