Expect the unexpected.

By Richard Cannon in All Sorts

to truly follow Christ, is to expect the unexpected and also embrace the unexpected and where it might lead us.

Expect the unexpected
Richard Cannon
As a youth I was a keen Boy Scout. I am grateful for that experience as
the scouting movement taught me some important life skills. They
included first aid and cooking, how to read a map, and the weekly
uniform inspection prompted me to polish my shoes and iron my shirt.
The motto of the Boy Scouts is “be prepared”. This is something I have
taken to heart, and which has stood me in good stead for many a
meeting and committee and research grant deadline. What annoyed
me, however, was that in my Scout troop we were told to “be prepared
for the unexpected”. The reason this annoyed me was that you can’t
be prepared for the unexpected – if you are prepared, it’s not
unexpected!
My thoughts about the unexpected were rekindled recently by an eye-
catching picture in the scientific journal Science, reproduced below.
The picture is of a fly caught in a Venus flytrap. As you may be aware,
the Venus flytrap is a plant that inhabits nutrient deficient soil and
obtains nitrogen by trapping and digesting insects. There are several
features of the Venus flytrap that are unexpected. Usually animals eat
plants, a plant that eats animals is disturbingly unexpected.
Also, plants usually do not move, although as I have commented on in
a an earlier connections article, they may grow slowly upwards and
towards the light. The Venus flytrap, however, moves very quickly – it
snaps its trap shut in less than a second. Indeed, the Science article
investigated the mechanism responsible for the rapid closing of the
trap.
As a scientist I am intrigued by the unexpected, it raises questions of
where, what, how and why? These questions stimulate investigation to
try to explain the unexpected. In our everyday lives, however, the
unexpected can be an unwanted distraction from our familiar routines.
Although unexpected events can be positive as well as negative, often
they are unsettling and require us to change our plans.
Jesus’ life and teaching, were the epitome of the unexpected. A king
born in a stable via a virgin birth, who devoted his life to serving those
on the fringes of society. A man who performed miracles, which by
their very definition were unexpected and inexplicable. A man who
lived for less than 40 years more than 2,000 years ago, who cheated
death, and who has had profound positive effects on millions of people
around the world. Perhaps, if we want to truly follow Christ, we must
not be afraid to leave our comfort zones and not only expect the
unexpected but embrace the unexpected and where it might lead us.