Kaleidoscope

“Gardens and butterflies, apples, angels, fires, trees, friendship, islands, keys, shipwrecks, grief and love.” In Brian Selznick's Kaleidoscope “each of these elements, like bits of colored glass, turn and transform and rearrange themselves into something new. And like looking into a kaleidoscope, the view is always changing and only you can see it.” “The entire universe can be found inside an apple.” Apple candle holders, apple bookends, apple bulletin borders, apple pencil holders, chrystal apples, porcelain apples, edible apples. As a teacher, I have collected my share of apples over the years. Often my students ask, “Why do teachers like apples so much?” I wondered the same: why the association between apples and education? Brian Selznick's Kaleidoscope answered my question in his chapter “The Garden.” “There’s a rumor. If you take a bite…afterward, you’ll know everything in the universe…Wouldn’t that make me like…God?...If I knew everything, there would be no mysteries….There would be no wonder…Life without wonder seems sad.” The apple/teacher connection started in The Garden of Eden–both represent knowledge! However, Selznick’s description provided a new lens on my understanding of God’s commandment and character. He forbade the fruit not only so that people wouldn’t have to live eternally in a state of righteousness poisoned by sin; He forbade the fruit so that humanity could experience wonder and mystery. In fact, mystery was the weapon He wielded to overcome the enemy of sin we had invited in with that first bite: combatted our condemnation with mystery! “The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, so therefore you can look forward to sharing in God’s glory” (Colossians 1:27). It’s true! “The entire universe can be found inside an apple.”