Discoveries

Last night I walked along a street I have traveled several times before, as recently as last week.  The stores unfolded in sync with my memory.  Restaurants, small businesses, and the occasional clothing store.  It all seemed natural until an unfamiliar yet well established store caught my eye.  I was sure the store hadn’t been there last week, yet everything about what I was seeing told me otherwise.  There was no way I could have missed the cats, shoes, and clothing displays, or was there.  Nothing made sense.
 
As I wandered through the store I found myself wondering back in time.  How many things have I missed by assuming I already knew were there?  What am I overlooking along the familiar paths?  Is everything playing out to my imagination or to what is possible?
 
It was almost as if I assumed I knew what was going to be.  Evidently in some prior experience I reached a simple conclusion of finality.  There was nothing more to be seen, nothing more to be learned (on this street), and inherently nothing more to be experienced. 
 
The store was very interesting.  I would describe it as a clothing store with a vegan take on the word coupled with a youthful twist.  It was familiar yet different.  Things were reassuring (not weird) yet with an edge.  It was unusual and a great discovery.
 
I find myself limiting possibilities.  Good can only do so much against evil, so I think.  Compassion can never quite overcome injustice, so I imagine.  Conflicts cannot be resolved between those with hate.  Yet new discoveries await our touch.  Imagine a world where “neither animal nor human will hurt or kill on my [God’s] holy mountain.  The whole earth will be brimming with knowing God-Alive, a living knowledge of God ocean-deep, ocean-wide.” (Isaiah 11.9) 
 
New discoveries don’t have to be just imagination – new discoveries exist even in places familiar to you and me.  They do not hide in the corners of our minds.  Everything is possible.
 
A dawn brings new discoveries to those with the courage to explore.