To Infinity & Beyond

When I was thinking of a verse to put on my cell group web page, Hebrews 10v23-25 came to mind. I chose the version from The Message, because of one phrase “Let us see how inventive..”

Observation - We’re not just called to encourage each other but we are suppose to be INVENTIVE. What a task!

Inventive derives from the verb invent and if you go check your dictionaries, it will tell you that to invent it means “create or design something that has not existed before”.

This means we need to be on our toes to think of new and original ways to encourage, love and help each other. It doesn’t stop there. This version says “Let’s see HOW inventive we can be...”. If I didn’t read this wrongly, it sounds like a challenge. And it is a challenge, when you are trying to invent something.

When I think of inventions, I think Albert Einstein. Simply because he’s really one of the greatest inventors of our modern day age. Not only that but because I suck at physics. Big time. Never could understand E=MC2 for the life of me.

In my sophomore year of college, I had to take a basic course of physics to fulfill my science requirements. My physics professor, Dr. Swatarie who has great brains and a wealth of experience having worked in NASA told us on the first day of class that teaching physics to non-science students was something he saw as a challenge for him. He shared that it was his aspiration was to re-invent us to become science people. Basic courses were always taken by students like myself who had zero or little knowledge about an area of study.

This he did, class on a nice day was never indoors. It was on the lawn and he always brought his kitchen tools or toys to illustrate. Not only that, on occasions that he heard me lamenting how bad of a physics student I was, he would gently rebuked me. Following his remarks, he would pass me a quote from a famous person the next time he saw me during class. Those pieces of post it pads of quotations still serve as a reminder to me whenever I feel like giving up.

At the end of that semester, the physics-cally challenged me not only passed the class but got a B+ for it. I wasn’t the only one, Prof. Swatarie successfully transformed his class of non-scientists to see how physics worked in our everyday lives.

We can learn two lessons from Professor Swatarie. He was inventive and he spurred the class on.

We should not just think of creative or original ways of encouraging one another. But we need to spur one another. Spur is a device with a small spike that a horse rider will use to urge a horse to move forward.

If you have ridden a horse before you know that to get it giddy-up, you’ll need to use both your legs and hit it hard against its rumps. It doesn’t hurt the horse but it does give the animal the idea that you want to move forward and how fast.

We are the same. We need someone to come along side us and hit us against our rumps so that we will keep moving forward.

Inventors push life to the limits. Prof. Swatarie did that. He pushed us to believe that impossibility and possibility is relative to how we see ourselves.

Christ isn’t just asking us push our own limits but also those around us. I’m going to borrow from Buzz Lightyear, “To Infinity and Beyond”, guys.