Like most children, I loved Dr Seuss books when I was young. But one book, The Foot Book, disturbed me. Because the illustrations focused on the feet of whimsical creatures, the illustrations would often show a foot while the rest of the creature’s body was beyond the border of the page. This creeped me out. So much so, that I can recall those feelings decades later.

Movies tend to use this technique as well. Many horror, fantasy and sci-if directors build mystery or suspense by only showing a fleeting glimpse of part of the monster or alien. I have been re-watching the Hobbit trilogy and noticed that Peter Jackson makes use of this technique a lot.

This technique works. It generates a lot of dissonance and anxiety in me as the viewer. But in any photo or video, what lies within the frame is only a small percentage of what is beyond the frame. Even take the magnificent images from the James Webb Space Telescope. At this point, it provides us the greatest field of view of the universe. But there is still so much more that lies outside that field of view. And we hardly know anything about what lies within our view.

This is true in life. Our perspective in any given situation is limited. I like to know as much as possible about the situation I face. When I don’t have the details, my mind starts worrying and forming worst-case scenarios. When I was younger, I thought this internal process was a strength because it allowed me to anticipate unseen circumstances that might arise. But the older I’ve become the more I realize this was a significant weakness and not a strength.

My desire for knowledge and information was an attempt to control situations. And we all know that any sense of control we might have is mostly an illusion. Control becomes an idol. Ironically, our attempt to control ends up controlling us. The idol demands sacrifices of anxiety, manipulation, deceit and a host of damaging behaviors to ourselves and others.

In my retirement, I have a new part-time job instructing elementary school students in an afterschool program. This is very much out of my comfort zone… and control. I haven’t worked directly with students in over 20 years and there are a lot of unknown aspects of this job. Every day requires me to show up and face a host of unknown circumstances. The need for control generates anxiety in me. But recognizing this idol and knowing the sacrifices it’s demanding from me allows me to resist and overcome it.

So one of my goals is to learn to be comfortable with the unknowns that lie beyond the border. I will still do my due diligence to gather as much information as I can. But that information is not to be in control. Rather, I’m trying to use it as springboard from which I can jump into the unknown and enjoy the experience that unfolds around me. That’s difficult for me. Very difficult. But the option of only enjoying what is within the borders is too limiting and unrealistic. 

Jesus calls us into the unknown. The paths of image-bearing vocation on which he leads us will invariably take us into the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23:3-4). These places of the unknown, the darkness, the ambiguity, and even the pain are the landscape upon which we travel and live with Jesus. He is with us as much in the darkness as he is in the light. And that’s the point. He is always with us and nothing can separate us from his love. So we don’t have to be in control. We can enjoy both what lies within and beyond the borders.