People either see themselves as learners or knowers. The perspective is that they are seeking and journeying or they have arrived. I'm learning that life as a learner is richer than that of a knower. Mind you I'm not saying a learner doesn't know anything and doesn't have any clarity of thought or conviction, rather the learner is open to discovery and to wonder. The learner tends to "receive" more than "manage," - receive life, receive people, receive the work of God and the Holy Spirit. A knower has an answer before the question is finished and a verdict before the person tells their story. Knowers spend a lot of energy feeling a need to control. I'm growing toward a conviction that the life of discipleship is life as a learner, with all the accompanying attitudes and postures of the heart.
This brings me to art. Learning to appreciate art has been an interesting part of the last number of years for me. There is usually more than meets the eye in most art. A painting has a technique. A sculpture has a story. An artist has a unique biography that leads him to create what he creates, leads her to create the way she does. Most meaningful art is not understood by quick observations and assumptions. Most people aren't either. Both have a deeper story. And if anyone has a deeper story, it would be God. Talk about 'more than meets the eye.'
Learning to appreciate art, to be a learner before a created work, has similar threads and themes to what it means to be a disciple, a learning follower of Jesus. It takes time. There's more to what He's doing than meets the eye. The Bible speaks of the "unfathomable riches of knowing Christ." You'd have to be a learner to appreciate Him. This is where the wonder begins and the door to joy opens.
