the flavor of tension

"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?

Tell me, if you have understanding.

Who determined its measurements-surely you know!

Or who stretched the line upon it?

On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"

Job 38:5-7

So this past week I finally bought myself a french press coffee maker. After having left mine behind in Minnesota when I moved to Seattle over a year ago, I had been trying to convince myself that I didn't miss the rich flavors that the french press method was capable of bringing out. But then I tried Starbucks' "Clover-made" coffee and I couldn't lie to myself anymore.

For those of you who don't know, a french press is a pretty simple device that allows you to make coffee with just hot water and coarse ground coffee. Let me rephrase that: it's a pretty simple device that allows you to make great complex rich tasting coffee that just isn't possible using a typical drip coffee machine (unfortunately, it looks like the french press method also has been linked to higher cholesterol).

While I don't really have all of the details regarding the chemistry behind why a cup brewed using the french press rather than drip method tastes so much better, I can say this much pretty easily: the difference for me is the complexity. In your typical cup of drip coffee, you're going to get a pretty simple and straightforward flavor. With a cup of french press coffee, on the other hand, you're going to get multiple flavors all at once: nuts, bean, smoke...it all comes at you in wave after flavorfully complex wave.

Humans are mixed when it comes to our relationship with complexity. On the one hand, we like the things we interact with to be simple, understandable. On the other hand, I'd guess that many of us don't want to be considered "simple" or easily understandable. Complex situations often raise anxiety, yet at the same time simplicity often breeds boredom. The truth is, we tend to fall on both sides of the fence when it comes to complexity.

So what do we do with a God that can be both extremely straightforward and indecipherably complex all at the same time? On the one hand we've got verses that make God seem so clear: "For God so loved the world that he sent his only son...". On the other hand we have verses like the one at the beginning of this post that make it clear that we will never be able to fully grasp God with our finite, human minds. What are we supposed to do with this?

In a word, I think what we need is to begin accepting the fact that tension (being caught between simple and complex, many and few, questions and answers) is a beautiful part of the world God created. And in order to accept this, what we need is a good dose of humility. Yes, there is much in the world that is simple and straightforward. There are parts of this world that are in our control, there are simple and beautiful ways of explaining things. But even as we hold onto those things that are simple in one hand, we need to reach with the other hand for those things that will always be beyond our grasp. We need to accept the fact that there's a lot more to the world than just us, and generation after generation has passed without even coming close to cracking the surface.

Being humble isn't about deflecting praise, it's about celebrating how little we really know. It's about finding peace in knowing that the plan is really in the hands of One who loves and cares for us deeply. It's about trusting in Him.