After they read or hear something explained, I hear people say, “Oh, I always wondered about
that.” Some of the things are simple
enough to find the answer ourselves, but the wondering doesn’t last long enough
to prompt that kind of action. Here are
just a few trivial examples some of you might be able to relate to:
If whole grains are better for you, why did people ever
start making “white flour” and “white rice” in the first place?
This answer came
to me via one of my sisters. She was
motivated enough to find out that whole grains are more subject to
spoilage. In order to preserve grains,
especially in times when refrigeration was not yet common, people came up with
a way of removing the bran and germ of the wheat or rice. It could be stored much longer that way with
less risk of going bad before it could be eaten.
Especially during
the summer time, it is still recommended to store larger quantities of brown
rice and whole wheat flour in the freezer!
Why does a hamburger not have ham on it?
It seems that
“burger” is a word in its own right, since cheeseburgers and chicken burgers
have appeared in the fast food world.
But when we go back to the origin of the word hamburger, we find
that the root word is “Hamburg”, a city in Germany. This type of minced beef was served on the Hamburg-Amerika line
of ships, which traveled between Germany and New York City. Eventually, the classic beef sandwich took
on its present form and was named after a European port.
Why is a Christmas plant, the poinsettia, so sensitive to
cold?
First of
all, the poinsettia is a tropical plant brought north about 150 years ago. Its bright colour and star-like design
seemed to be built-in marketing for Christmas in the northlands, but it is
native to Mexico. Another reason it is
associated with Christmas is that it flowers when the days become shorter. The Christmas cactus is so-named for the
same reason, but it is obviously a tropical plant as well.
The things we wonder about can be trivial like the examples
above, but they can also be about more
serious things, like questions of faith.
For these wonderings, it is very important to wonder long enough to seek
out the answers. Yes, there are many
mysteries in the realm of faith, but having a heart that seeks after the truth
will bring a person closer to God. It
is not all about academics and what you know; it involves knowing God
personally. Don’t settle for less.
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