All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

In 1986, the dude above, better known as Robert Fulgham, published a fascinating collection of essays entitled "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten." Fulgham is a former Unitarian Universalist pastor turned author. Though I have never read this collection, I have found that it says things like this, as one website told me:

Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.
And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.

This is the most depressing list I have ever read in my life. If this is what we are living for, then I most definitely quit. I will live in a little cottage and play video games for the rest of my life surviving on gatorade and laffy taffy. (I may still follow the advice about the naps)

I am privileged to be studying at a fantastic institution where we learn about the Bible all the live-long day. I have learned many things, and as I learn my heart slowly thaws and the smile on my face gets wider and wider. Here are a few things I have learned or been told at seminary:

1. It's hard, but it's good. - This is sooooo true. It's difficult work. It's tiring and it takes many hours, all while you have to be quite cognitively awake to retain anything. but it is soooo good. I am understanding things that have bothered me for years; also, I am being transformed by truths that I knew before but never really believed. Are things more valuable when they are hard but good? Sure. Ask any parent.

2. Someone told me, you'll find you are more sinful than you could ever imagine, but you belong to a God that is more gracious than you could ever imagine. - We all like to believe that we are 'good' people, whatever that means; but I can speak for myself as an envious, deceitful, angry, condescending little fella who just thinks he knows it all; God has rescued me; even me. Sanctification rocks! Is a gift more valuable when it is earned or when it is given though you've failed miserably? Example: watch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. No one jumps up and down in tears like that if they've worked their whole lives for it.

3. The Bible is true. - It is deep and complex, and old and mysterious, and fantastic and grandiose, with answers about everything, it is history, science, ethics, government, socio-economics, and family values all wrapped in one. But most importantly, it is the story of Jesus. It is the story of our sinful nature and its redemption by a man who is both God and flesh. If it is not true, then we are left only with this list:

Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.

4. Our minds are pretty tiny. - It's amazing how much we are shaped by past experiences, cultures, families and friends, and modern entertainment. We are just the fruit smoothie after those things have been put in the blender and shaken up for about 25 years. Studying is good. Studying the Bible is better. Though it's old and tough scholars have been writing about it for centuries. They are good resources in addition to the Bible itself. I was thinking of 'holy grail' math equations recently. These are ones that take some mathematicians their whole lives to solve. That is some in-depth knowledge. To think that the brightest minds on the planet need lifetimes to figure them out means that there are some truths even larger than that, and in comparison to the wisdom of the Lord, our minds are really really tiny. Has man encapsulated all of wisdom that is discoverable? Of course not. What is dark matter? We may one day find out, and then discover the problem that lies behind that.

5. People love us, because Christ first loved them. - This may be the single most important thing we've learned at seminary. These people are not nice to us for any reason other than they recognize the grace they've been given, and want to display it in return. We have some wonderful friends here. We love them lots. Is there greater love, than when someone would give up his life for his friends?

6. God's mission reaches the whole world. - The Bible tells us that the truth of God will reach every land in all the earth. We are a part of that mission, and need to reach our brothers and sisters in every nation in every language in every way that we can. Paul took the gospel to the ends of the Earth, (Spain at that time), and so shall we. Are we not grateful that God sent missionaries to convert the Anglo-Saxon world when we white folks were in Northern Europe? I thank the Lord for missionaries.

7. Love your wife, as Christ loved the church - Never have I seen such love for wives as i have seen here. the men put their wives above all else and build them up in the way that we are instructed in the Bible. This inspires me and makes me want to love my wife more and more each day. What greater picture is there of Christ and the church than a man and a wife who are truly in love?

8. It's not about me. - I know that in the opening of the book 'the purpose driven life' it says this, but I want to say it in a way that is not so easy. It's not a truth that we should tack on a wall to remind us once a year when we might look at it, but a reality that we must live in every moment of every day. Our hearts think exactly the opposite all the time. It is all about me. Think about your priorities: are you planning for you and your comfort or are you working to redeem outwardly through the work of the gospel?

9. We must love our enemies. - Ouch. No one wants to do this, but it is clearly commanded in the Bible. This doesn't just mean tolerate or not punch in the face. It is serious. We will show them the gospel. Did someone invent the Bible? They would not have written this. No one wants to do this.

10. Pray. - How do we pray? This might be our single biggest struggle right now. We do this as a tag-on at the end of the day, something to do at the bottom of the list. What greater beauty is there than that the creator of the heavens and the earth listens to our petitions with care?

If we all just die and nothing else happens, if we are fertilizer, like we hear about in the song 'circle of life' from the Lion King, then again, I quit. Living is stupid. But if Jesus is real, and his word is real, then I must follow obediently to what his word says. There is no in between.