As I reflected on what I wrote, it occurred to me that there is a paradox with the familiar and un familiar. The unfamiliar can be both scary and exciting, full of fear and ecstasy, but once we experience the unfamiliar, then it becomes part of the familiar.
"The Babe in the Manger got your attention because it’s familiar, like how we all got here. But this voice is greater than the familiar." Intriguing insight on the "Babe" being the attention getter. the idea of "voice being greater than the familiar", (I think) is what can be scary about Jesus when we he is not presented in terms of who he is, what he did and why he did it. There is a comfort that comes from the familiar, no matter how painful that "familiar" may be. There is also a trigger in the familiar, which confirms what we knew would happen anyway. Sometimes the familiar lowers expectations. There is a sense of dependability with the familiar. Comments like, "Here we go again"; "Past behavior is a great predictor of future behavior", "I knew he would never change, even with all the promises.", etc. In relationships, the familiar has to change in order for the relationship to mature. As each of my sons past that magical number between adolescence and adulthood, (18th birthday), I knew that they weren't my little boys anymore. In order for our relationship to mature into what it should be as two adults, I had to. I had to let them fly from the nest. It certainly wasn't easy, especially when they had their own families. Being a grand parent was totally unfamiliar and scary.
As I reflected on what I wrote, it occurred to me that there is a paradox with the familiar and un familiar. The unfamiliar can be both scary and exciting, full of fear and ecstasy, but once we experience the unfamiliar, then it becomes part of the familiar.
"The Babe in the Manger got your attention because it’s familiar, like how we all got here. But this voice is greater than the familiar." Intriguing insight on the "Babe" being the attention getter. the idea of "voice being greater than the familiar", (I think) is what can be scary about Jesus when we he is not presented in terms of who he is, what he did and why he did it. There is a comfort that comes from the familiar, no matter how painful that "familiar" may be. There is also a trigger in the familiar, which confirms what we knew would happen anyway. Sometimes the familiar lowers expectations. There is a sense of dependability with the familiar. Comments like, "Here we go again"; "Past behavior is a great predictor of future behavior", "I knew he would never change, even with all the promises.", etc. In relationships, the familiar has to change in order for the relationship to mature. As each of my sons past that magical number between adolescence and adulthood, (18th birthday), I knew that they weren't my little boys anymore. In order for our relationship to mature into what it should be as two adults, I had to. I had to let them fly from the nest. It certainly wasn't easy, especially when they had their own families. Being a grand parent was totally unfamiliar and scary.