Eschew The Obvious

Today is another birthday, and I notice that after all these years I still haven't learned. I remember early in my life I read an evaluation of a person and the comment was made that his only trouble was that the had a tendency to "eschew the obvious." I did not know what that meant at the time and had to look it up. It means to avoid, to refuse, to stay away from the obvious. Now after all these years on another birthday, I look back and observe that I suspect that I have been guilty of the same thing. My comments on Facebook are never like the others. Some one posts a comment about a success, and all the rest say "congratulations." I tend to find some question or observation but seldom say simply "congratulations." People today have been sending "Happy Birthday" wishes. I never just send a "Happy Birthday" comment. I would tend to say something like, "Do you find the years have made life better?"

I have learned that there are times and there are moments when the obvious is good to say. There are words that are appropriate to moments and everybody knows them and says them. "Thank you" is a good obvious thing to say. "I love you" to those who are part of your family. "Happy Birthday" is an obvious that is good to say to those who have birthdays. "So sorry to hear about your loss" is an obvious that needs to be said. There are others. I should have learned to say them by now.

Sometimes in our religious debates and discussions we also tend to get away from the obvious and the expected. There is frequently a constant search for creativity and originality. The obvious gets overlooked. There is frequently the passion for apologetics that the obvious is overcome with the arcane. One of the "obvious" observations in the Old Testament is that there is "nothing new under the sun" and the passions and desires of human individuals and society are still pretty much the same and so that which was said for a thousand years about life in community, that which is obvious, probably has a great deal of truth in it. The obvious might be a good thing to remember.