Day 16, Mysterious lands and hidden doors

So, now that I've been in my host apartment for over a week, I'm starting to notice more details.  I noticed right away that there are little cabinets with windows over the doors, and I have noticed that some of the floor boards might give way soon, and most recently I realized that there are hidden doors!  One is right behind the wardrobe in my room, and I being short did not notice it until I saw its reflection in the mirror over the fireplace that I face when I'm on my computer, such as now.  That night (I think), I noticed a square shape cut into the tile on the face of the shower tub.  And then, yesterday morning, I saw that there's another hidden spot below the window in the kitchen, which I face every morning as I eat breakfast!  I can't help but think of "Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" or "Fog Magic" or "The Forgotten Door"  or even that "Hidden Driveway" that I searched for every time I drove by on my way to my aunt's home, and I wonder what mysterious wonders are just beyond my sight.

 
No, it can't just be a door to the next bedroom; it leads to another world!  No, the square on the shower isn't just a repair; it's a panel to push to take a hidden tunnel.  And no, don't be silly about the hidden cupboard under the kitchen window being a drink pantry; it is probably magic with a city bustling inside, kind of like "Indian in the Cupboard"!  Golly, for all I know, I just very well might find my very own version of Platform 9 3/4--who's to say those only go to Harry Potter World?!?

It's a pity that I had to leave such excitement to go to school and listen to the French news drone on for half an hour, later followed by reading about internet crime and practice with future tenses.  At least the after course was about phonetics, though I struggled to stay awake in both courses today.  I seriously need to get more sleep.  That way, I'll be better prepared to learn the strange ways of this strange land and meet the strange people that speak this strange language, whether by stepping through that door behind my wardrobe at night in my dreams or by stepping out my front door in the day in my life.  Either way.  :)

At least there are people here in this land whom I have already met who can communicate with me, in my own tongue or the tongue of this new land filled with history (nueva ciudad vieja??).  When we met up tonight, we discussed the words of a wise, perfect being, words which he shared with another group of people in their own land, in their own language.  And yet, strangely enough, they did not understand.  They heard him physically, this being named Jesus Christ, but they misunderstood his message.  Consequently, they did not believe in this omniscient, omnipotent man-god, regardless of having seen him with their own eyes!  Somehow, it was the blind who saw him as he was, the deaf who heard and felt his words, the lame who followed in his path, and the socially disowned who found acceptance in him.

One of the parables discussed tonight was about the wheat and the tares (found in Matt. 13).  Sometimes He was asked, and people still ask today, if God loves us, why is there so much bad in the world?  Why do we need the tares mixed with the wheat?  Well, just think of us as an evergreen I once saw in Washington State.  Imagine it: huge, full, thriving, lush, and green--the epitome of magnificence and the symbol of a wonderful state, or so one supposed upon seeing it.  It was strong even, because it had endured many strong, harsh storm winds coming from the west.  But one day, a strong wind came, knocking it over almost effortlessly.  Why?  The wind had come from the east, catching the tree in its weakest point.

We are like the majestic evergreen, strengthened because of the opposition rushing in our face, striving to reach our potential.  But we must also be better than the great evergreen and be strong in a variety of ways.  We find such strength by facing the opposition.  Where is lacks is where we slack.  Like the wheat apparently can't exist without the tares, we cannot exist without opposition.  It is up to us to decide and act for ourselves as to how we will respond when such trials come, but choosing to act proactively is choosing to be strong.  God gave us agency.  He can't make us strong, but he can give us opportunities disguised as trials to provide us with the option to fight, learn, and grow, or to simply give up and fall.  Thankfully, though, he is there when we stand up to the howling winds because he wants us to make it through.  Like he doesn't want to lose even one of the pieces of wheat, he doesn't want to lose even one of us.  What's more, we have each other to provide trials and opportunities and support.  (I realized tonight, once again, that there's a need for me to struggle with learning French!)  Whether we be strangers or in a mysterious land or friends and family at home, there's a purpose for everything we experience, which we can discover as we choose to strengthen ourselves and one another in him.

 Who knows; there just might be a mysterious door in every one of us, full of hidden treasures that goes unnoticed at first glance.  Who has the key?  Take a wild guess.  ;)