The Mind is a Monkey

Bill Brown ... Xiamen University
[God] said, "I have chosen Bezalel, the son of Uri...I have filled him with the Spirit of God. I have filled him with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts. " Exodus 31:2,3

When God gave Moses and the people of Israel the designs for the beautiful temple and its artistic furnishings, he also gave them the "Spirit of God" so they would have the skills to build them. God, the Creator, wants creative children. In Exodus 31:4-6, he said, "He can make beautiful patterns in gold, silver and bronze. He can cut and set stones. He can work with wood. In fact, he can work in all kinds of crafts....I have given ability to all of the skilled workers. They can make everything I have commanded you to make."

God still blesses us with creativity and inspiration even today--to scientists' puzzlement. Much research has gone into trying to understand how great ideas, art, music and inventions seemingly pop out of thin air. Consider simultaneous inventions, for example. People in different countries have literally dreamed the same inventions at the same time, with no communication between them--and often these inventions are quantum leaps in understanding, seemingly unrelated to what has preceded them. Many scientists have explained this with, "the time was right." Maybe so--but our Father is the one holding the timepiece.

Today, like 3000 years ago when Israel was building its tabernacle, our Creator has gifted us with minds and imaginations. What are we doing with them? Are we exercising and using our gifts, or allowing them to atrophy and wither away?

The Mind is a Monkey Lin Yutang wrote, "The quality of learning, like the kingdom of God, is within you, and it must come from the inside of your mind. The mind is a monkey; all you need to do is to let the monkey into a forest. You do not have to tell him where the nuts are to be found. You don't even have to guide him toward the good nuts." ("From Pagan to Christian," pp. 29).

Our Father gave us this playful and inquisitive "monkey mind" and placed us in the great forest with all of the good nuts we could ever want. We have only to open our eyes and hearts and take them. As Jesus said quite simply, "Ask, and it will be given to you. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you." Matthew 7:7.

Theologians will of course dissect Jesus' "seek and ye shall find" until it is no longer a promise but a platitude. But the child of our Father will take it literally because Jesus said precisely what he meant. As Lin Yutang wrote,
"Jesus spoke as no teacher of men ever spoke. Jesus never expounded His faith; never reasoned it out. He spoke with the simplicity and certainty of clear knowledge. At most He said, "How is it that ye do not understand?"

How is it we do not understand? Jesus said "Seek and ye shall find!" Our Father would not give his children a universal desire to seek, and then deny us the object of our search. Jesus said, "Suppose your son asks for bread. Which of you will give him a stone? ...Even though you are evil, you know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more will your Father who is in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" Matthew 7:9, 11.

Retired and Pretired Most people have given up the search. They no longer ask for bread but settle for the scraps tossed to the dogs beneath the table. But if you still possess that God-given urge to seek purpose and meaning in life, use that inquisitive monkey of a mind and seek until you've found it. And once we've found our God-given desire, our Father will gift us with the creativity and knowledge to do something special with our lives. After all, there's no point in allowing a monkey to find a good nut if he has no way to crack it open.

In closing, I fear this has been a nutty noodle, but such is life! And now...I'm going nut hunting.
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