July 19th

It’s amazing the things people get up to, in more ways than one. For instance, I recently read about a fellow that designed and built the world’s fastest radio controlled car. About a meter long, the small vehicle was clocked at 161mph, or roughly 260 kilometers per hour. That’s pretty fast for any form of transportation, so just imagine the skill of the driver keeping this thing from going out of control while watching it from a distance.
Now, this technological wonder wasn’t cheap. As you can well imagine, the components to move the car along, keep it under control, and manage the power and speed without breaking apart cost a pretty penny. In fact, it cost the builder $4000 US. That’s a lot of money, but then again, it was quite an accomplishment, and there are other far more expensive hobbies out there. Imagine building a full size car that would go that fast quickly and safely, and you soon realize that this guy got off pretty cheaply.
Like I said, it’s pretty amazing what folks get up to, which leads me to my second example, that is actually a response one person offered to our high speed modeler. You see, one chap took exception to the fact that $4000 were spent building the device. He figured that since one of his cars could go 70mph and cost only(!) $300, he could do the same thing for less money. My response was, sure you could. Maybe. If you were lucky, because when it comes to speed, in a vehicle of any size, things are always more expensive than you might think. Plus, if you read the article describing the way the thing was made you realize that not only was there a fair chunk of change involved, there was a whole lot of talent and skill as well. In other words, while the little car wasn’t cheap, when you add it all up, it most likely couldn’t have been done for much less. So my response to the commentator would be: you try and do it for less, and do it a well as the other man did, if you’re so smart.
Ok, maybe it’s a kind of trivial thing, both the making of an ultra-high speed model car and the ensuing debate (mine included) but we humans are kind of trivial folks. Our minds aren’t always involved in deep and incredible things; in fact, we’re quite often stuck in little bits of thought that are hardly worthy of the great minds God has given us. But once again, it’s amazing what folks get up to, especially when you consider just how trivial and petty we can be. Me, I like to build models and do woodwork. A fellow pastor loves model trains and organ building. Another friend is a fabulous knitter. Still, even though none of these are what you might call ultra-important hobbies, we still do some pretty great things beyond those distractions.
The key to it all, I guess, is that we balance trivia with depth. God has given us brains large enough and souls sufficiently expansive to accomplish both the mundane and the extraordinary. The mundane things we do help keep us grounded. Our extraordinary deeds move us beyond ourselves so we can touch others in a way that both honours and pleases God, the amazing Father who loves us in both our amusingness, and our triviality. At least that’s the way I see it.