Have you ever tried to go through a corn maze? Going from place to place, making turn upon turn wondering where the correct turns are so that you don’t end up lost in the maze forever? (Unless you are trying to get lost in the maze, then of course you hope that each successive turn you make makes you guys more lost in the space) You definitely don’t focus on the little things… I can follow that grasshopper all day long and I doubt that I’d be able to follow it out of a paper bag (how you got into the bag with a grasshopper is another question entirely.) If you are in a professional maze then you can climb on top of a platform and see your surroundings, and see where the maze is going. If you are not in a professional maze then you can stand on the shoulders of the tallest consenting adult. the same can be said when you are writing a narrative. If I were to tell you what was important about today I would leave out information that might be used in a later story I tell you. Honestly I didn’t think twice about the tall red headed guy in my freshmen orientation, but I sure remembered that detail after he started working in my lab. the same thing can be said when you are talking about the narrative of John in the Gospels. John was the latest tale of Christ, all of the other synoptic gospels had already been written, as well as most of the Pauline letters. he had the chance to see what was important in the story, to see how the intricate pieces came together to make a wonderful narrative, He didn’t focus on the grasshoppers that Mark did, as much as I love reading his gospel he does tend to spending time on details that are not necessary for the story to be told. John has the scope, the vision, the interconnectedness of the story. he knows where there are details omitted that needed to be there to understand some of Christ’s teachings. He saw the end of the maze (well closer to it than the others did) and he made certain that his reader could understand the way they needed to go to make the most sense out of the information. now if only I could write something so distinct and apt as that narrative. Oh well, practice makes perfect and I should look at the macroscope not the microscope for a change.
Pielstickium: the Human Element
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The idea of looking beyond the microscope is a profound one. So often little details in life get blown into the high magnification lens, where they become all that we are able to see. For me, at least, the ability to step back and observe through the macroscope is one that is honed rather than inherited. I think, though, that that is one of the challenges we were intended to face in life. That is the reason why we are given both knowledge of one of the most sublime doctrines, the Plan of Salvation, but also a physical body susceptible to temptation and pain. When life is viewed through the microscope of defined time, things look rather pointless and, as many people will attest, heartless. Yet when the macroscope of the Plan of Happiness is applied, temptations and pains have a reason rather than being cruelties. Perhaps one of the reasons the Plan is given the adjective “happiness” is because it allows us to have hope. This can be seen as part of the peace the Savior promises in John 14:27–peace that comes from a sure knowledge of the bigger picture. That’s one of the profound aspects of viewing through a macroscope for me: it ties things together, giving them order, and in so doing instills a feeling of hope.