Smart, clever and profound?
I don’t mean to be,
but sometimes I am.
I don’t intend to be,
but sometimes I can be.
I’m not trying to be,
but sometimes it just happens.
Smart, clever and profound?
I don’t know, ’cause mostly I just feel stupid.
“I think about weird things”, I said. Like, “how do birds survive”, I asked, “since everything looks different from up above?”
He said I’m deep, but as I shrugged and tried to be negligent,
I couldn’t help but feel a little joy about the fact that somebody noticed what I’ve always kind of suspected all along; I’m pretty damn smart, and maybe a little clever, too.
And since even a blind squirrel sometimes finds an acorn, even I can be profound.
However, on most hours of the day, and for most days of the week I just feel stupid, but
I’m trying not to let that get in the way.
I was told that Einstein came up with the theory of relativity
while he was riding the tram. And perhaps this is the secret…
All profound things lie in the simplest things.
So “don’t worry, be happy”, E still equals MC2. Go take a walk,
sit down for a cup of java with a mate of yours and then, profound or not, tell me what you thought of.
August 3, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Love this, man. What a great post. I’ve never thought you stupid at all, even if you feel that way—but then again, I think we all feel that way sometimes. You’ve always had really interesting thoughts, you’re always wanting to learn.
I love that line—”All profound things lie in the simplest things.” How true. Sometimes we think that things are so complicated when we’re really missing the simple point behind it all. It just made me think of what I do, studying theology and the Bible…I’m always thinking about the big questions, how faith should shape how we think and live, what the Bible has to say to some of life’s most complicated questions.
But really, I should start with what’s simple:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
and maybe,
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Maybe sometimes I spend too much time thinking about the big questions when I should be focusing on the simple promises. Maybe if I understand the simple truths better, the big questions will just fall into place.
August 7, 2009 at 3:37 am
This was brilliant, really brilliant. Sometimes I try to hide the fact that I don’t know one thing or another, hide it in a few clever words. That is real stupidity. I’m re-learning the phrase “I don’t know, please tell me about it”. Don’t know why and where I lost it, but I’m taking it back.
It’s so important to allow yourself to wonder – why is this, what is this, and what if this… Wonder about the simple things and the simple questions. That’s usually what opens up my creative work for myself, too.
Keep thinking about those weird things. Yes, you’re pretty damn smart if you do.
Possibly related, I don’t know:
Nataniel keeps asking us, “Where are we?” every half minute when we’re going somewhere. I answer “Right here”, and Natte nods: “Mmmhmm”. I think he’s on to something, don’t know what. I’m waiting for the follow-up question: “where is here?”, maybe, or something even harder, and I really don’t know waht to answer then. Other things, “Mikä on kylmä?” “Missä valo on?”. Why don’t I think about those things anymore?
August 25, 2009 at 1:16 pm
the simplest and most brilliant thing in quite a while was when my daughter a couple of days back told me about Jesus. She told me he will be coming down from the sky and when he comes she will run to him and he will take her in his arms. Such a simple piece of truth!