Everything for Dummies

I had lunch with my brother today. After finishing some very nice Thai cuisine, we wandered the mall. I had seen an interesting article earlier that day while I was waiting in the doctor's office. There was a bookstore in the mall so I persuaded Wayne to go in and look for the magazine since I was sure it would be of interest to him. He made a beeline for the books on computers.

There is everything under the sun available for Dummies in that particular section of every bookstore. My brother is no dummy when it comes to computers. Thirty years as a programmer with IBM has guaranteed that, but he is still tracking down the definitive book on some aspect of computing that I certainly don't understand.

He tried to explain it all to me again. I bless his efforts, but I really only care that it works—not how it works.

But the incident brought to mind this morning's verse from 1 Corinthians 1:25: "For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength."

There are so many times when I need to remember who's the dummy in the relationship that I have with God. It's easy for any of us to reverse the roles. We think that our ideas are brilliant. We are certain that our thoughts soar loftily. We feel assured that our opinions are the right ones, and the best ones. We guarantee the purity of our motives and attitudes. Then along comes Paul to plunk us before the mirror of reality and whisper: "Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the smartest one of all?"

Then he hands us the book: "Life for Dummies," written by the only One who isn't.

If God had a "worst" it would be still be far ahead of our best.

It is at that moment that I am eternally grateful that even when I momentarily forget my role in the equation, the One who wrote the computer code of all life, including mine, has his competent hands firmly on the mouse—the dummy can relax.