Adventures in missing the point

charlie
Originally uploaded by mincaye.

Somewhere two-thirds through the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the character Mike Teavee remarks, "Why is everything here completely pointless?"

Charlie replies, "Candy doesn't have to have a point. That's why it's candy."

Sometimes we get too caught up trying to figure everything out, reach the bottomline, and place all the points in their respective places, that we completely miss the wonder.

Max Lucado wrote, in his book In the Grip of Grace:

The loss of mystery has led to the loss of majesty. The more we know, the less we believe. No wonder there is no wonder. We think we've figured it all out.

Strange, don't you think? Knowledge of the workings shouldn't negate wonder. Knowledge should stir wonder.

Who has more reason to worship than the astronomer who has seen the stars? Than the surgeon who has held a heart? Than the oceanographer who has pondered the depths?

So I suppose we have to miss the point sometimes. When we think we've figured everything out, we really haven't. We've sacrificed the big picture for an intricate understanding of the inner workings.

Not that that's wrong, but there comes a point when we have to stop analysing air pressure and composition, and just start breathing it.

And if we're not so worried about the destination, perhaps we'll actually smell the flowers along the way, soaking in the whole experience of a joyous journey.

After all, on all long adventures, focusing on little else but the 'point' is just like the child who, on a long road trip, keeps asking "Are we there yet, Daddy?"

"Candy doesn't have to have a point."

That line stood out in the trailer. It stood out in the movie, and it does still. Maybe because, though we do not say it, we know it to be true.

After all, which chocoholic cares anything about the calorie content of chocolates?

"That's why it's candy."