While I was at the beach...

It was Saturday morning in Panama City, Florida. I had arrived three days before with my husband, children, and my in-laws. Every morning we waited until 9:00am to get into the pool located just outside our back room. I wondered why we waited until 9. Across from the pool was a dilapidated old sign which said the pool opened at 8am. Why were we waiting until 9am? I just didn't know. Then Saturday morning came. We all rose early because my toddler woke extra early waking the whole motel room. My husband informed me everyone was just waiting for 9am to hit so we could get into the pool. That was when I finally revealed the sign I had been staring for the past half week. He followed by pointing out a newer sign at the far side of the pool that showed the pool opened at 9am. How did I miss that? I just didn't know.

Listening in on our conversation that morning was the pool guy, quietly cleaning while we talked. I was back in the room he turned his attention to the others and said, "The pool is clean if you want to go in." So at 8:15am, 45 minutes before we were technically allowed to go in and 15 minutes after I thought we had permission, we went to the pool. Oh it was fun. No one dared to enter with us. Kids begged their parents. We saw at least a dozen, sitting on their back porch staring at us. They would turn to their parents and ask to swim but the parents told their kids we were breaking rules. They had to follow the rules to be better than us rule breakers. For 45 minutes the pool belonged to only us. It was glorious.

It made me wonder about the bible. (Which isn't a stretch for me, everything eventually goes back to faith and God when my mind is involved.) Our biblical understanding typically comes in three forms. None of these forms are completely wrong and none are completely right. They are just something to think about.

1. Early understanding trumps later revelation. For me, I saw the really old sign hanging on the fence and took it for gospel. The sign said 8am. I had no reason to look around and see if another newer sign existed. I knew where the sign was. That was it. When I think of biblical basics that stand the test of time, and deserve our adherence, the 10 Commandments stand out. Don't kill. Of course. Don't want what the Jones' have. Makes sense. Honor your Mother and Father... Well, we are still working through that one with our kids. But they are all good. We should strive to follow them even when a later revelation comes to light. I suffered from the problem of not knowing a later revelation, or paying attention to shiny new signs around the pool area. (Maybe they should have taken the old sign down.)
   
   
2. New and shiny trumps dated and old. There are times that time honored teaching needs to be listened to. There are times when the world around us changes and we need to change with it. I have a theory about the pool. (It is only a theory because I had no inclination to research pool hours while on vacation.) When the pool opened at 8am people would have to be at the pool at 7am to clean it. Maybe the pool technicians were always late. Perhaps the pool has been cleaned by the owners and they wanted to get that extra hour of sleep. Because they wanted to clean the pool before it opened they decided to open the pool an hour later. This is one of the situations where it really doesn't matter the reason. The rule changed; the the later rule trumped the earlier rule. Sometimes we want to cling to that dated sign because it was there first and it is still hanging up. Really, we need to realize the times have changed and the rules have changed with them.
   
   
3. Common sense trumps it all. This is really where it mostly is. Because the pool was clean and we were told it was OK, we broke the rule. Common sense saves the day. Relating to the bible I have two great examples right off the top of my head: A) Jesus heals on the Sabbath even though we are supposed to rest on the Sabbath. (Mark 3:1-6) Jesus uses common sense to trump the law by admitting it is honoring God to help someone in need. B) While in exile the Israelites are worried they are being punished for the sins of the parents and grandparents. Jeremiah uses common sense and explains that they make their own destiny and carry their own sin. (OK, so that is a bit of a stretch, but I love Jeremiah, and wanted to add it. So, I will add a third.) C) When Jesus sees a woman about to be stoned for adultery, he knows the rule is for this woman to be stoned. Instead he uses common sense and asks the crowd to think before they act. Let the one who has not sinned cast the first stone. No one threw a stone that day. The woman lived.
   
   

So what did I learn from all this? If you ever get a chance to swim in a nice pool for an hour by yourself, take it! It was awesome! But, I guess I also gained some perspective on biblical perspective. The next time you hear someone quoting “old sign” passage from the bible, perhaps they were like me, and didn't see the shiny new sign hanging off their shoulder. Also, don't discount all “old sign” people. Technically, they are still right if the rule is still standing. That old passage might just be something important like the 10 Commandments. Finally, if see someone who seems out in the wilderness breaking the rules, ask yourself, are they trying to break the rules, or are they using common sense in some way to do what is right? John the Baptist seemed pretty out there and he was right. Moses seemed pretty out there and he was right. Mary seemed pretty doomed being pregnant with Jesus and she was right. Jesus was executed for his actions and he was most definitely right.

So I guess that is what I learned. Just be more open. Maybe we will teach someone something new through our openness. Maybe we will learn something new by being open