Yesterday we visited Burton Constable Hall, a large Elizabethan country house in East Yorkshire. Visiting the house, we learned some of the history of the Constable family; we enjoyed the grounds, designed by the famous eighteenth-century garden designer Capability Brown…
I was entertained by various signs… I’ve never seen one like this, directing us to Stables, Toilets and Whale… They weren’t in exactly the same place!
I particularly enjoy ambiguous signs…
Does ‘SLOW children and dogs’ mean that children and dogs must go slowly? Perhaps ‘SPEED pensioners’ could be added…
Another sign said, ‘Walk to the lake’. Was that an instruction, or was it giving me information. And ‘Baby Changing Facilities’? Is that about transformation or exchange?
Ambiguity, contradictions and apparent nonsense!
I enjoyed reading Wynne’s blog yesterday. Wynne’s daughter, Miss O, had asked her how her mother (Miss O’s Nana) felt when Wynne was pregnant with her:
…I raised an eyebrow and replied. “She was thrilled.”
And then Miss O revealed why she’d asked like that, “Even though Bumpa [my dad] had just died?”
Oohhh, she was putting together the news with the story that she already knew which is that my dad died just as I was getting pregnant with her.
And then, my not quite 9-year-old daughter, replied, “We are the lost and found people.”
Her apparent contradiction wasn’t ambiguous or nonsense. It provided a child’s wisdom and complete clarity of thinking.
Jesus said: ‘The last shall be first’, ‘You must be born again’; St. Paul said: ‘When I am weak, then I am strong’… Ambiguity, contradiction and apparent nonsense?
Jesus talked about his teaching being hidden from the wise and learned, and revealed to little children. He continues: ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.’
Perhaps Jesus is saying that children – like Miss O – aren’t phased by ambiguity, contradiction and apparent nonsense. Instead their wisdom and clarity of thinking can lead to true rest.
(Wynne’s full blog ‘Lost and Found People’ can be found on https://wynneleon.com)
malcolmsmusings.org 
Time to ponder this. Thank you, Malcolm.
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I’m pondering too, Joy. I think there is danger in either underestimating or patronising children. They are often perceptive, seeing things that adults miss.
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Yes, much to ponder here, Malcolm. “We are the lost and found people.”
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I think we are, David. I think that’s what the Luke 15 parables are all about…
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Agreed. The lost sheep and lost coins and lost son, Christ speaks about, show us the heart of God.
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Burton Constable Hall is very majestic and the signs are interesting. I love the Scripture you chose, Matthew11:25-26, to emphasize Miss O’s remark. Children are so intuitive! 🙂
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It was an impressive building. Nancy – owned by a family of the richest land owners in the country in previous centuries. I’ve never linked Jesus’ reference to children with his promise of rest before.
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I love the signs you highlight from Burton Constable. The stables, toilet and whale is hilarious, as is your comment.
Thank you for your lovely call-out to the wisdom of Miss O. Thank you for sharing your wisdom and clarity, grounded in faith, Malcolm!
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Thanks, Wynne. I believe that we should expect children to be perceptive and wise. Too often we underestimate them. There’s a danger that we think that Miss O’s wisdom is the exception!
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Ambiguous signs provide much amusement for me. Thanks for sharing. And yeah, we can definitely overthink things and miss the truth in front of us.
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I like the signs we see by the roadside sometimes that say something like: ‘Strawberries turn right’
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Life can be so full of complex ambiguities and contradictions that we need children’s wisdom to break down and simplify them in ways that make sense we don’t understand.
During these complex times, faith in Jesus and rest in the knowledge that we were found by his love and we are secure in knowing He cares for us, is encouraging.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Rom.8.28.NIV
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I agree, Allan. We need to keep our view of life simple amongst all of the complexities of life. And somehow faith in Jesus doesn’t take away the complexities; perhaps it guides us through and enables us to cope with them.
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