The games are abundant now that we have portable devices to carry to our grave, and perhaps you know what I’m talking about because we’ve all played this game in real life. You are shown a picture of the room, cluttered beyond belief, and then asked to find particular objects. Perhaps it is a timed game, but it always requires a sharp eye and a mind that can sort through the clutter for the answer.
It’s much like this picture for my blog. Quick. Where’s the banana?
Do this in real-time. Look about the room you are in right now. See all the clutter? Where are your keys?
For me, since I’m a fast reader and a skimmer of so much material, there are times I miss the obvious point of a chapter (even an entire book!) and have to backtrack, read slower, look for keywords, and throw my enormous brain power into the fray of searching for the point I had missed.
This works in novels and any other book I may want to read. Side note: Not everyone finishes the book they started reading! We skim books, looking for the larger story, and often miss the hidden gems in plain sight. Suppose the author has pages without any dialogue, depending on the writer and storyline. In that case, I may turn pages until I return to the conversation’s juicy parts! If you are reading for the backstory, you stay true to the sentences as they unfold, regardless of the writing style. If you are reading for pleasure, I’ve learned that pleasure comes as long as my mind is engaged. And there are plenty of books that fail to engage my curiosity!
Here’s my thought. Every time I take time to read my Bible for the value of the content, a nugget that was in plain sight and hiding from my rapid skimming mind…well, let’s say that every time I read the Word, there is some new nugget that was hiding in plain sight that I missed last time or even a 100 times before!
This happened recently and proves my point again. Someone was preaching a message, and a particular scripture reference I had never considered in light of the point being made suddenly made sense because I was reading and hearing the hidden point in plain sight.
Then I remembered a time when we accepted a challenge for a preacher…
The book of Acts (New Testament) has 28 chapters and tells the story of the New Church being founded on the Day of Pentecost. Every chapter progresses the story through the years, and when you reach the end, you finally realize there is no end because the Church is still growing and going past the point of Chapter 28… We are Acts 29, if you please.
In the late 80s, we were challenged to read the entire book of Acts every day for a month. 30 days reading the entire book of Acts. It takes a little over 2 hours of standard reading speed to cover the 28 chapters. On the first day, I made it all the way through, patted myself on my back for completing 1/30th of the goal I agreed to, and went about my day my usual way.
Day 2? I could not get past Acts 22. Something arrested my attention, and I could not move ahead. Day 3? Acts 16. Day 4? Acts 10. Day 5? Acts 8. Day 6? Acts 3.
Get my drift. When I was reading to accomplish a big goal, I could finish the reading and be happy. But when something caught my attention, then I had to pause, back up, re-read, consider the story, drill down and explore, and look for the hidden point. I failed to finish my goal of reading the entire book every day for the following 29 days.
I learned something about goal accomplishments in general and about me specifically.
When I read just to finish the book, then I miss the joy of exploring the story.
It’s sort of like looking at the picture for this blog and looking only for a single item and failing to enjoy the exploration of every facet of the room’s contents!
David wrote in the longest chapter of the Bible, Psalms 119.
With my whole heart I have sought You;
Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! Y
our word I have hidden in my heart,
That I might not sin against You. (Psalms 119:10-11 NKJV)
Not everyone in our history knew how to read or own a book. Much of what they accessed was from their memory. Hidden deep inside were the nuggets they heard from the readers and stored away to be recalled in the day of need. We may be great auditory learners, but I know that I need all available learning styles to make it sink in.
Hear it. Touch it. Read it. Think it. Speak it.
This helps me to recall later, and even then, I find there are nuggets to be unveiled as I consider the writings again from a different place of life and living.
Do not rest all your scriptural research on that single reading you did in your distant past. Read it fresh every day, and you will find hidden gems that will be the bread you need for the day you are living. Remember the Lord’s Prayer? It’s a hidden nugget extraordinaire!
Give us day by day our daily bread.
(Luke 11:3 NKJV)
Just like the manna in the wilderness. Just what I need for today is to be gathered and consumed for the day you live, and not stored for the future. (Exodus 16)
Hiding in Plain Sight: Nuggets are missed when looking for the singular. Our attention span is shorter than a gnat. That's why you read it all, over and over, so to keep building your library of precious nuggets. Click To Tweet
Thank you for reading.
Please share with others.
It helps me get my book written!