A recent AP article on MSNBC.com tells of a Yale Study which demonstrates that babies as young as 6 months old know which playmates to seek out and which ones to avoid. Psychologists showed a "googly-eyed toy" trying to climb "roller coaster hills" to a variety of babies age 6 to 10 months. They were then shown two types of additional toys. One type of toy would help the googly-eyed climber up the hill. The other would push it back down.
Finally each baby was given the choice of playing with the "helpful" or "harmful" toy. According to the article, "nearly every baby picked the helpful toy over the bad one." Babies would also choose to play with neutral toys, but they preferred the helpful ones to either of the other ones. If researchers removed the eyes from the toys, rendering them less "life-like," the children stopped making distinctions.
Of course scientists are divided as to how these data should be interpreted. Those who conducted the Yale study believe it to be evidence that humans have innate social skills that don't need to be taught. Others argue that it merely indicates that children are learning social behaviors at an earlier age.
At the risk of being an arm-chair researcher, it does indicate to me that, even at an early age, we look for people who will help us rather than hurt us. There is something in us that is looking for a teammate, someone who will make life easier. And we choose people who show that kind of promise. Most people don't really want to go it alone.
This morning we're going to look at a scripture that reminds us of this very fact. At the end of Colossians, Paul devotes some space to personal matters. He sends greetings from some of his companions to the church in Colosse. He greets some of the recipients by name. He asks that the Colossians receive the bearer of the letter as well as others who will be visiting them sometime soon.
All of this serves as a very important reminder to us. Even though Paul is the one who gets most of the credit, he was not working alone. He had a lot of help. Some of these helpers we know by name. But, even though we know their name, that's all we know of them. The rest of their story has faded into obscurity. Surely there are other helpers of Paul who will forever be anonymous. I would hope that any of them would tell you that this is OK. What matters is not who gets the recognition, but that people hear the Good News about Jesus.
We all have a part to play. Most of us will not get very much recognition by others. I doubt any of us will go down in history for our contributions to the Kingdom of God. No matter. God knows the part we are playing. And the Kingdom is growing. Paul calls this fact a mystery. I pray that, this morning, God will pull you in and make you a part of his unfolding plan.
Finally each baby was given the choice of playing with the "helpful" or "harmful" toy. According to the article, "nearly every baby picked the helpful toy over the bad one." Babies would also choose to play with neutral toys, but they preferred the helpful ones to either of the other ones. If researchers removed the eyes from the toys, rendering them less "life-like," the children stopped making distinctions.
Of course scientists are divided as to how these data should be interpreted. Those who conducted the Yale study believe it to be evidence that humans have innate social skills that don't need to be taught. Others argue that it merely indicates that children are learning social behaviors at an earlier age.
At the risk of being an arm-chair researcher, it does indicate to me that, even at an early age, we look for people who will help us rather than hurt us. There is something in us that is looking for a teammate, someone who will make life easier. And we choose people who show that kind of promise. Most people don't really want to go it alone.
This morning we're going to look at a scripture that reminds us of this very fact. At the end of Colossians, Paul devotes some space to personal matters. He sends greetings from some of his companions to the church in Colosse. He greets some of the recipients by name. He asks that the Colossians receive the bearer of the letter as well as others who will be visiting them sometime soon.
All of this serves as a very important reminder to us. Even though Paul is the one who gets most of the credit, he was not working alone. He had a lot of help. Some of these helpers we know by name. But, even though we know their name, that's all we know of them. The rest of their story has faded into obscurity. Surely there are other helpers of Paul who will forever be anonymous. I would hope that any of them would tell you that this is OK. What matters is not who gets the recognition, but that people hear the Good News about Jesus.
We all have a part to play. Most of us will not get very much recognition by others. I doubt any of us will go down in history for our contributions to the Kingdom of God. No matter. God knows the part we are playing. And the Kingdom is growing. Paul calls this fact a mystery. I pray that, this morning, God will pull you in and make you a part of his unfolding plan.