“Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star;
Oh, I Wonder Who You Are?”
Character-enhancing Lesson:
Learning
Hollywood, California; July 9, 1995 . . .
Fascinated with Hollywood, I returned there in 1995. I spent a relaxing, sunny, summer afternoon at a neighborhood park, located near Willie’s place.
As I had absolutely nothing better to do, I decided to look around the park through my high-powered binoculars. I wasn’t bird-watching! I wanted to “zoom-in” on more interesting subject matter—namely, any attractive Southern California babe who might be lying around and sunbathing in the park.
A couple of hundred yards or so across the freshly mowed grass, I spotted, without the field glasses, an interesting “subject.” The woman sat, partially reclined, on a folded-down lounge chair. With my naked eye, she appeared promising enough to warrant a closer view. I lifted my visor and looked through the powerful binoculars. All I saw, though, was a speck of something against a greenish background. The distant object appeared to be several miles away. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I WAS LOOKING THROUGH THE WRONG END OF THE BINOCULARS!
“I seem to be focused on one little thing,” I said, not having realized, as yet, my backward thinking. “This is really frustrating me. Lord, how can I learn to eliminate my tunnel vision and see the bigger picture?”
I anxiously waited for God to appear. After several seconds elapsed, I thought that She didn’t hear my question. Then I turned around and saw Her. God had sat down on a park bench, just a few feet off to my left. Once again, Her appearance was simply breathtaking. Her meager, pink, ribbon-tied-in-the-front, halter top and Her very short, cut-off-high-on-the-thighs, denim pants left little to my imagination.
The Lord opened up a thick reference book that She had brought with Her. God said, “Webster’s Dictionary defines ‘learning’ as: to acquire knowledge; to get to know; that which is learned. Abraham Lincoln may have said it better, ‘I am a slow walker, but I never walk backwards.’ The art of learning is applied knowledge. Knowing most of the scientific facts or spiritual truths associated with life is so much trivial information and of little consequence, unless you can apply this knowledge to aspects of personal growth and development.”
“Lord, I’m a little confused.”
“Wantsalittle, true learning is the ability to think in perspective. Perspective thinking can be likened to the whole of a thing being greater than the sum of its parts. Each part or fact symbolizes some meaning or purpose. For example: Birds and bees are parts, or facts, of life. However, what’s the bigger picture? Do you see things that can fly? Do you see the reproduction of the species? Or do you see two wonderful gifts of nature? Regardless of how you elect to interpret the facts in your life, your focal point should be on the ‘Big Picture.’”
“Trust me, Lord. My mind and eyes are currently focused on the Big Picture. You said something about seeing ‘two wonderful gifts of nature.’ And that is, or those are, precisely what my mind and eyes are now sharply focused on!”
“Wantsalittle, so much for your serious-minded nature, huh?”
“I’m sorry about that, Lord! But Your choice of words, at times, and Your generally sexy attire leaves You wide open and exposed to my well-intended, although sexist, remarks. Please forgive me for my wandering thoughts, my straying eyes, and my sometimes ill-mannered comments! . . . What else can You tell me about ‘learning’?”
“Learning comes from all sources of personal exposure. Reading, writing, and arithmetic are valuable learning tools. Still, ‘experience’ might be life’s best teacher. He who graduates from the ‘school of hard knocks’ may be among the wisest and most prepared of all men. One thing’s for sure: The more that you learn and know in life, the more you’ll know that there is to learn and know. Indeed, learning is a never-ending process. Wantsalittle, as you think with the goal of learning to be a more perspective thinker, you will better be able to apply your overall knowledge.”
As soon as God left, I turned the binoculars around so that I would see a magnified image through the lenses. Then I clearly saw Roseanne Barr-Pentland-Arnold-Thomas-Conners—whatever her “last” name happened to be!
Roseanne was wearing a ruby-red bikini and soaking up some rays. She was reading a songbook that was turned to a tune called “Stand By Your Man,” written and recorded by the late and great Tammy Wynette.
Although She had already left, I said, “Thanks, Lord, for sharing your wisdom with me. But this time the Big Picture isn’t exactly what I had imagined it would be!”
(The moral of this episode: Learning is largely a matter of sifting through the various details and facts of life and focusing on the Big Picture!)
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