IDK…Is Not An Answer

One ticket… really? Says it all. Funny, but we all have many layers too. I gave students a paper discussing and instructing the topic of emotions . All boys, mind you. Many asked if they could write “IDK” for an answer.  They were good-natured about it but not-self aware. Most were missing knowledge of some layers, but then aren’t we all.

The psychology behind this thought is peeling back the layers like an onion. Strip away one layer to find another layer waiting to be explored and peeled back. It is a process. It is life. There is no end just an exploration of the layers, but we can’t explore or stay on the path of discovery if our answers are continuously “IDK.” That stalls the process. We have to go a direction for there to be contrast. This movement in any direction gives us information upon which to base our next move. So, when in doubt … make a decision and see where that takes you. Then another, then another, then another.  Keep moving, keep going, keep seeing contrast and living through it and making the next best decision. Ask, What’s my next best step? It will give you information so you can know what to do next. Keep going. No “IDK” here.

A Cold and Barren land? or Naw?

Barren Land is defined as the following:

“incapable of producing offspring, seed, or fruit; sterile: a barren tree. 2. unable to support the growth of crops, etc; unproductive; bare: barren land. 3. lacking in stimulation or ideas; dull: a rather barren play.”

Barren | Define Barren at Dictionary.com

Isaiah 41:18

…17“The afflicted and needy are seeking water, but there is none, And their tongue is parched with thirst; I, the LORD, will answer them Myself, As the God of Israel I will not forsake them. 18“I will open rivers on the bare heights And springs in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water And the dry land fountains of water.“

New American Standard Bible

This picture I took at the lake where I walk reminded me of this verse. The lake ebbs and flows with abundance and lack of water from season to season. The water level again is down but it will rally. There is hope. This is life for all of us. We arrive with nothing to offer but cries and demands and we often exit the same way. Some go peacefully, so go kicking and screaming, but we all…go. Just like the water, and the leaves, we will bear fruit for a season or perhaps many seasons. There is not a human alive who does not produce which is part of the ultimate plan. What will our focus be? Shall we focus on the measurement of productivity or the delight in the process?

I look at the picture and somehow find it remarkable that even when the land is bare there is a faint and distant nudge toward the thought that somehow, someway the water will one day again flow. The crops will be abundant. The children will all be fed. The parched will thirst no more. And to that horizon we look in awe of abundance we all may access. May all who thirst drink deep of life and know the God of Israel will not forsake us.