I am reading in Numbers 7-10 and a phrase about bowls, flour, lambs, and oxen is repeated 12 times, thus the name Numbers. To make it not so dull I try to consider the repetition and order of all the sacrifices and how humans love repetition and order better known as rhythm and pattern. One of the greatest gifts God ever gave us was rhythm and pattern. We love the rhythm of waves, music, ticking clocks, and the pattern of Scottish wool, stripes on zebras, fractals, and rectangles on a Hersey Bar. It is called order and this we also love. We love the order of seconds, minutes, hours, and days, of roundabouts and our turn at the front of the line. Of the many attributes of God Three one of the most loved in Their order, Their devotion to rhythm and pattern.
When I allow order to rule my life I form habits. If the order is for good things like reading Your Word or kissing my lover the last thing I do every night, my life becomes manageable and predictable. Order is comforting. It is what makes for great surprises. Without order there would be no possibility of surprise or awe and precious wonder. A disruption of pattern or rhythm creates an opportunity for focused attention, as when a kiss leads to lovemaking or the pause leading to the climax in Handel’s Messiah.
Who could have thought up rhythm and pattern out of a vacuum of formlessness and void? Oh, what a wonderful gift to see the order in 12 bowls of gold filled with fine flour or the beautiful dots surrounding my lover’s irises. G. K. Chesterton said, “The worst moment for the atheist is when he is really thankful and has nobody to thank.”
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| Found this patterned mushroom in my yard. |
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