Teach me your way, LORD,
that I may rely on your faithfulness;
give me an undivided heart… (Psalm 86:11)

The other day, interviewing a professional musician for a newspaper article, I posed the following question: “If you had the opportunity to take a sabbatical (at full pay), and to spend one year back in school, what new musical instrument would you learn?”

His principal instrument was trombone, and I imagined he’d pick something like “Jazz guitar,” “Piano,” or, “I’ve always wanted to play the cello…”

But he surprised me, “I wouldn’t learn a new instrument,” he said, “I’d spend the year in cooking school!”

We talked some more (these interviews always range well beyond what actually makes it into the article!), and it turns out he and his wife had rebuilt their kitchen about the same time we had, and that he’s been having as much fun as me expanding the family’s culinary repertoire.

NEW line of questioning: In consequence, and because of my own experiences, I plan on adding two new questions to my standard set when I interview people over the age of 50. It will vary, of course, but the essential queries will go like this: “What are some of the exciting changes that have come with middle age?” And, “What would you like to learn, if you had unrestricted access to education?”

I’m not advocating that we become obsessed or driven when it comes to continuing education. But I do believe that learning and creativity too often take a back seat in our culture, and that our nature as beings made in the image of Creator God requires the nourishment of learning if we want to thoroughly engage our potential as God’s Children.

Personally, I see this time of my life as kind of blank slate, on which pretty-much anything can be written. It’s the idea of “new every morning” writ large.

It begs the question, “What new thing will I learn today?” And then, “In consequence, what will I be up to today; this week; next month; in 2012; five years down the road?”

Sometimes I think that we fail to journey along the path God has in mind for us simply because we allow ourselves to become stagnant. Each new day is a fresh opportunity to learn, and to grow, and to increase in knowledge. As the old gospel song suggests:

• I’m gonna live so God can use me anywhere, Lord, anytime! I’m gonna live so God can use me anywhere, Lord, anytime!

• I’m gonna work so God can use me  anywhere, Lord, anytime! I’m gonna work so God can use me  anywhere, Lord, anytime!

• I’m gonna pray so God can use me  anywhere, Lord, anytime! I’m gonna pray so God can use me  anywhere, Lord, anytime!

• I’m gonna sing so God can use me anywhere, Lord, anytime!  I’m gonna sing so God can use me anywhere, Lord, anytime!

And I’d add, “I’m going to learn so God can teach me, anywhere, Lord, anytime. I’m going to grow so God can use me, anywhere Lord, anytime…”

- DEREK