Dig For More

     When one thinks of Easter Island, located in the southern Pacific Ocean, an image of one thousand plus “head statues” comes to mind. At higher elevations the statues are full bodied and very large. Since its discovery in the 1700’s, a mystery has hung over the island as to how the statues got there in the first place. In an attempt to solve the mystery of the head statues, and their placement all over the island, archeologists gained permission to excavate the ground surrounding two of the heads. They hoped to find the remains of tools and such to help them understand the meaning of the statues and how they got there. What they found was not at all what they had expected. As they dug, they discovered the “head statues” are not only “heads” but full bodied statues buried in the dirt, every bit as big as the statues above ground. The dirt that buried the statues was washed down from higher elevations and not deliberately placed there to bury, protect or support the statues. The statues were carved and erected in place, and stand on stone pavements (a man-made foundation). Evidence of how this was accomplished has been found and possible engineering scenarios have been theorized, but are as yet to be confirmed. The thing is, the whole island still remains a mystery and digging around only revealed what has always been there, adding even more intrigue to investigating minds searching for the truths of a forgotten people.

     Children don’t have a problem with questioning what they don’t understand. Little Johnny’s kindergarten class was on a field trip to the local police station where they saw pictures, tacked on the bulletin board, of the ten most wanted criminals. One of the youngsters pointed to a picture and asked if it really was the photo of a wanted person. “Yes”, said the policeman. “The detectives want him in particular very badly.” Little Johnny asked, “Why didn’t you keep him when you took his picture?”

     Other children just need more time to unbury the truths and ways of the world. A little boy was in a relatives wedding. As he was coming down the aisle he would take two steps, stop, and turn to the crowd (alternating between the bride’s side and the groom’s side). While facing the crowd, he would put his hands up like claws and roar. So it went on; step, step, ROAR; step, step, ROAR all the way down the aisle. As you can imagine, the crowd was near tears from laughing. The little boy, however, was getting very distressed from the laughter and was also near tears. When asked what he was doing, the child sniffed and said, “I was just being the Ring Bear.”

     [Galatians 1: 1-10 & 5: 7 – 6: 10] Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia expresses much frustration as Paul had discovered that someone had come into the congregation teaching something different than the gospel he taught, causing much confusion among the brethren. Confusion in the church is nothing new and it doesn’t have to be that way. Too many people simply maintain their religion by what they hear and are taught. They hear conflicting messages and eventually form personal thoughts about God and heaven, life and death and return to the world. Like the “head statues”, most believers’ introduction to the gospel is good, and they can see the truth. Can we accept that everything we are told from that point forward in our Christian walk is good gospel, or do we need to dig deeper into God’s word for a more complete understanding of God’s will? Investigate what you hear. (Acts 17: 10-11) Discover the whole body of Christ.