Ridgell's Originals

So two things really caught my attention in reading all of the end of year news briefs.

The first one is about Pluto.  Not the Disney dog, but the planet -- or not a planet.

I grew up naming Pluto as one of the planets.  But when my grands studied the planets, Pluto was not one of them.  Some really smart scientists said Pluto was a planet.  Then some really smart scientist came along and said that Pluto was not a planet.  Now a couple of really smart, well educated scientists are arguing that Pluto should be reclassified.  As a planet. 

So is Pluto changing that much?  Did we learn something that made Pluto a planet, then learn something that made it not, then learn something that made it one again?

I don't know much about science.  Not really smart about it.  So when smart people talk about science I tend to listen.  And here is what I have learned.  Smart people may not be right.  And what constitutes well educated may change. 

So I wouldn't get too worked up about Pluto.  Your great-grandkids may have figured out by then that Pluto is, isn't, is again, and maybe even isn't a planet by then.

I grew up eating eggs.  Breakfast, sometimes for supper.  Sunnyside up, scrambled, omlets, migas.  Healthy breakfast.

And then some really smart people decided that eggs were not if fact good for you at all.  So no more than two per week.  And now I find out that last year some really smart, well-educated people decided that eggs are good for you and you can eat a dozen per week.

I don't think eggs have changed over the years.  Smart thinking about eggs changes.  But not eggs.  Or the truth about eggs.

So I listen to our culture talk about Jesus.  Really smart people say lots of different things about Jesus.  He is one way to God.  He was a really good man.  He was a very good teacher.  He is a myth.  Some smart, well-educated people even say He is the Son of God.

Same thing about the Bible.  Biblical scholarship changes pretty often too.  Something is right according to Scripture, then it is wrong, and in a couple of generations some really smart, well-educated people will decide it is right again.

And I think Jesus is the same as always.  And I think the Bible is truth. 

I still don't know if Pluto is a planet or not.  Not sure it matters.

And I still eat eggs.  Lots of eggs.  I am either really healthy or I am killing myself.

And whatever the smart people decide, I still believe in Jesus.  I have staked my life on the conviction that he is the Son of God.

And smart people can tell me that the Bible doesn't mean what it says, or then it does.  I'll go with what it says.  And they can tell it means what it doesn't say.  Or it does.  I'll just go with what the Spirit had written.

Really smart people are not always right.  And what makes one well educated might change from generation to generation.

So here's the about education and following Jesus.

Jesus used ordinary, uneducated people to turn the world upside down with his message.

People just like me.

Maybe just like you.