If you listened to this week’s podcast (and if you haven’t—iTunes link: https://itun.es/i6Y66wb // website link: pennnpaper.com/podcasts/), you might have heard me say that when I think about all of the ideas, music, movies, and books that are made that I know nothing about or haven’t learned about, I get stressed. (In fact, my heart is beating slightly faster than normal as I type this thinking about it.) When I think about this, I realize that this is both a blessing and a curse, and I should have written this blog post as the very first one.
Fear of the unknown is a blessing, because it pushes me to learn, to grow, and experience new things. It’s a curse, because at times it may cripple me by being overcome by feelings of stupidity and the black hole that seems to be the unknown.
But the unknown is always around us. There are so many things about God I don’t understand. Scientists on the earth cannot fully explain yawning or how the pyramids were built. On this earth we haven’t found the cure for cancer, figured out how to live peaceably with each other (though I think I have some ideas on how to solve that), and we haven’t made music that everyone agrees is good.
But, this leads me to wonder. This makes me ask questions. I’m still asking questions, and I hope I never stop asking questions. I hope to one day be a gray-haired (possibly balding) man who still has questions, listens to people he disagrees with, is humble enough to know that he doesn’t have it all figured out, and still likes to have a sense of humor about life. That’s why I write. That’s why I podcast. This is why I’m hot. This is why I’m hot. This is why this is why this is why I’m hot….sorry…I got taken with a hot track from the early 2000s. But hopefully if you’re reading this, you’re wanting to learn and wonder about things too. After all—that’s why I’m doing this.