“If you want to teach people a new way of thinking, don’t bother trying to teach them. Instead, give them a tool, the use of which will lead to new ways of thinking.”
Buckminister Fuller
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If you’ve never read this quote before, I want you to consider it for a moment and then go back and read it one more time. These words are the tool I am learning to work with.
If you have read Buckminister Fuller’s quote or are familiar with the concepts it embodies, I want you to pause and then go back and read it twice (because if you are familiar with what you have just read, then you need to become un-familiar with it).
My Hope is that the context I’ve just shared sets the stage for the following introduction to a tool that has changed my thinking.
Last week, I shared a personal entry into a tragic saga in the Legacy I hold pride in… the United States Navy (Do me the honor and read about it here – It’s Not about You… – and leave a comment), but this week, I want to share something even more dear… the Legacy of my Faith. Particularly, how it relates to our present crisis.
Turn with me to an interesting moment in the Old Testament.
The Story of Moses… this part, shortly after he and the Isrealites he had been sent to free had escaped Pharaoh and his army… all after the ten plagues. There is a lot to cover in the book of Exodus and I would suggest taking some of the time our current situation provides and read it, but did you know there was an eleventh plague?!?
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The part that caught my attention was:
And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?” And Aaron said, “Let not the anger of my lord burn hot. You know the people, that they are set on evil. For they said to me, ‘Make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ So I said to them, ‘Let any who have gold take it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”
Exodus 32:21-24
You see… Moses had left camp and gone up to “chat with God” and couldn’t believe what he had found by the time he got back. Surely his brother Aaron would have a good explanation! Umm… maybe not.
Basically, here’s what I read… the same tried and weary practice that so many (particularly “leaders”) are clinging to right now… Find all that is valuable, throw it into the crucible of life, “believe” it will all work out REALLY hard and then spend the rest of your life “worshiping” whatever comes out of the “fire.” I mean… clearly, if it’s made up of the “gold” of your life, then it must be there for a reason and don’t mess with it.
Or
Put another way:
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubt, while the stupid people are full of confidence.” — Charles Bukowski
Moses couldn’t believe he had just pleaded to God to spare these people’s lives… He doubted himself for doing it… All while the people of Isreal danced and sang for joy to the golden calf they had made.
Darkness… the truest darkness is not the absence of light; it is the conviction that the light will never return.
Lois Lane – Justice League
So if you’ve read this far… let me turn you to the “Tool” that my Faith introduced to me and the “Triple-Dog-Dare” a chaplain from Georgia, USA challenged me with when I asked him this question:
How can I pray to a god, I don’t believe in, and ask him questions there are no answers to?
His response was simple:
“Pray to the God you don’t believe in… whatever you think a prayer might be. And then ask Him the questions you believe there are no answers to and then open the Bible. I don’t care if you read a sentence or a paragraph or a chapter, but when you’re done, take out a journal and write down what you heard. And if you have any questions, come back and we can talk some more!”
My response was to accept the challenge, but I said we wouldn’t be talking much. I didn’t see myself having many questions.
My Hope is that you’ll accept my challenge and be wiser that I was… that you’ll come back and ask more questions, because THIS… the Bible… is the Tool that I believe God designed to change the way we think. Not by teaching us… or learning more, but by reading it.
Ready to accept the challenge and throw away your golden calf?
“If you want to teach people a new way of thinking, don’t bother trying to teach them. Instead, give them a tool, the use of which will lead to new ways of thinking.”
Buckminister Fuller