Seeds For Thinking

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the LORD. (Isaiah 55:8, NKJV)
You have probably never heard of, nor even imagined, an engine where everything rotates around a stationary crankshaft. That is just not the way engines are built. Check out the engines used in automobiles, lawnmowers, and numerous engines, large and small - even electric motors - and you will see that the crankshaft revolves within a stationary engine block. Yet such a ‘rotary’ engine was used extensively in WWI fighter aircraft. The crankshaft was bolted to the aircraft frame, and the rest of the engine revolved around it. The propeller was attached to the engine body.
The rotary engine had several advantages over conventional engines, which were mounted firmly in supports, with the shaft and propeller spinning. Rotary engines reversed that, with the shaft being held tightly - and the engine spinning! The propeller was mounted to the rotating engine, which stayed cool by having its cylinders whirl within the open air. The design was inherently light weight, as it did not require a flywheel, for the bulk of the engine filled that need. Most systems used no carburetor. Instead, the fuel/air mixture and lubricating oil were injected through the hollow crankshaft.
This was at a time when the availability of petroleum based fuels and lubricants was limited. Actually, they found that the best option for lubrication was castor oil, for it was not diluted by gasoline, as with petroleum based lubricants. Excess oil was ejected with the exhaust gasses, as it was not burned during the ignition process. This was rather messy, as you might imagine, and I have found numerous references to the laxative effects upon the pilots, who were breathing the castor oil fumes. Goggles didn’t just protect the eyes from bugs, but were also necessary because of the oil mist. They wore a neck scarf to wipe the goggles clean.
The large bulk of the spinning engine made controlling the aircraft difficult, leading to the loss of many planes and inexperienced pilots. Further, the speed of the engine was not easily adjusted, as with a carburetor type of engine, making landing difficult. A ”Blip” switch was used to actually turn the engine off and on to lower the speed.
Eventually, aircraft engine technology evolved to the point where the conventional engine became the preference for all applications. The shortcomings of the rotary engine consigned it to history by the 1920’s.
It is unlikely that anyone today would think up a design based upon the rotary engine principle. We tend to think in terms of common and familiar practice. Great inventions and advances in technology come from people who think “outside the box,” whose thoughts are not conventional thoughts, rooted in accepted practice.
That applies to our worldly outlook on life, as well. If we base our thoughts upon the accepted and popular notions of society, we may be missing the Way of the LORD. Isaiah called upon the wicked to forsake the world’s way, and for the unrighteous man his thoughts, and to turn to the LORD. Is not such advice appropriate for us today as well?
There are times when we must break with conventional thoughts and wisdom, and think of a way of life designed to meet the unique needs of God’s heaven-oriented service. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9, NKJV)