okieinexile
Well-Known Member
By Bobby Neal Winters
The book of Revelation, chapter 5, verses 1—4 states, "Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, 'Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?' But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside."
This mysterious, hard to understand, and often misunderstood book of prophecy was written by a man known to us only as John. There were several leaders in the early church named John, and it is not known which one this was. However, on the basis that he wept over being able to find no one worthy for opening the scroll, I am willing to hypothesize that he was a democrat and opening the scroll has something to do with the search for the democratic presidential nominee.
I cast my eyes over the field, and there is no one out there who I can see filling the job. However, this is not unusual, as I've been similarly handicapped every four years for quite some time. This has not prevented the position from being filled, however, and the country has survived regardless of the dire predictions of either side. This has brought me to the conclusion there must be something to this great country of ours besides politics. We can all thank God for that.
However, this brings us to a broader question. What makes it all work? The whole idea of civilization is beyond me, government baffles me, and even the littlest things are amazingly complex upon close examination.
For instance, if I take the notion to order a book, I can sit down at my computer, order it, and have it turned up on my front porch in a few days. I cannot explain how the computer works, how the order is filled, or how the truck that delivers it operates, and no one in the process understands how every piece of it works. Yet everything works just fine. I have a book, they have my money, and the whole world is somehow just a little happier.
When I was a child in Fittstown, Oklahoma, about the only interface I had with a greater world, besides the television set, was church. Especially, when I was five, like my youngest is now, all of the adults were like giants. For all I knew, the grownups who I saw at church were the masters of the universe. They seemed to know everything, and I thought when I grew up that I would somehow have to understand how to run the world just like they did. That thought terrified me.
I should have been even more frightened than I was because I have learned that they didn't know how to run the world. The sad fact is that no one does, but somehow the world keeps right on running.
I've had ample time to think about this at the University. We have thousands of students meeting in hundreds of classes everyday. If one person had absolute control over every aspect of it, nothing would ever get done. Yet bright young men and women walk in our doors, and when they walk out for years later, they've learned something and are able to do things they couldn't have done before.
Each professor teaches his own classes and grades his own papers in his own office. He's able to do that because the custodian takes care of the building, and the building is there because somebody else built it. Our students find the setting attractive because the ground crew does such a lovely job, and so on, with nobody along the way having to master every detail. One person grades papers, one person cleans floors, one person cuts grass, and in each doing his job, it all works.
It's like one of those pictures that are made buy putting little dots of paint all over the campus. Up close, it is just dots, but farther back it is an afternoon in the park.
I suppose that I am still the boy who thought that one day he would understand the world just like the grownups. Or maybe I am waiting for someone to break open the seals on that scroll, and who is worthy to read it and explain everything to us, so that we can understand it all at last.
The book of Revelation, chapter 5, verses 1—4 states, "Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, 'Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?' But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside."
This mysterious, hard to understand, and often misunderstood book of prophecy was written by a man known to us only as John. There were several leaders in the early church named John, and it is not known which one this was. However, on the basis that he wept over being able to find no one worthy for opening the scroll, I am willing to hypothesize that he was a democrat and opening the scroll has something to do with the search for the democratic presidential nominee.
I cast my eyes over the field, and there is no one out there who I can see filling the job. However, this is not unusual, as I've been similarly handicapped every four years for quite some time. This has not prevented the position from being filled, however, and the country has survived regardless of the dire predictions of either side. This has brought me to the conclusion there must be something to this great country of ours besides politics. We can all thank God for that.
However, this brings us to a broader question. What makes it all work? The whole idea of civilization is beyond me, government baffles me, and even the littlest things are amazingly complex upon close examination.
For instance, if I take the notion to order a book, I can sit down at my computer, order it, and have it turned up on my front porch in a few days. I cannot explain how the computer works, how the order is filled, or how the truck that delivers it operates, and no one in the process understands how every piece of it works. Yet everything works just fine. I have a book, they have my money, and the whole world is somehow just a little happier.
When I was a child in Fittstown, Oklahoma, about the only interface I had with a greater world, besides the television set, was church. Especially, when I was five, like my youngest is now, all of the adults were like giants. For all I knew, the grownups who I saw at church were the masters of the universe. They seemed to know everything, and I thought when I grew up that I would somehow have to understand how to run the world just like they did. That thought terrified me.
I should have been even more frightened than I was because I have learned that they didn't know how to run the world. The sad fact is that no one does, but somehow the world keeps right on running.
I've had ample time to think about this at the University. We have thousands of students meeting in hundreds of classes everyday. If one person had absolute control over every aspect of it, nothing would ever get done. Yet bright young men and women walk in our doors, and when they walk out for years later, they've learned something and are able to do things they couldn't have done before.
Each professor teaches his own classes and grades his own papers in his own office. He's able to do that because the custodian takes care of the building, and the building is there because somebody else built it. Our students find the setting attractive because the ground crew does such a lovely job, and so on, with nobody along the way having to master every detail. One person grades papers, one person cleans floors, one person cuts grass, and in each doing his job, it all works.
It's like one of those pictures that are made buy putting little dots of paint all over the campus. Up close, it is just dots, but farther back it is an afternoon in the park.
I suppose that I am still the boy who thought that one day he would understand the world just like the grownups. Or maybe I am waiting for someone to break open the seals on that scroll, and who is worthy to read it and explain everything to us, so that we can understand it all at last.