Open minded thinking is harder than it sounds. I read books the same way a dry sponge absorbs water. I like to read slowly, focusing on the meaning of each word. As I am educated or enlightened, I begin to swell and see the overflow of meaning seep into my everyday life.
Usually this means finding clever ways to segue into a topic related to the book I’ve just read and then quoting from said book as a way to display my enthusiasm for the subject I am currently enveloping myself within.
The odd thing is that this sensation of wanting to share my knowledge is very often only present while I am reading the book and shortly thereafter. Once I start reading a new book, I opt to speak about the new one rather than the former, as it is at the forefront of my mind.
Spirituality by Proximity
In retrospect, some of my strongest spiritual beliefs have been spirituality by proximity. I believed certain things because I was so immersed in their teachings and only their teachings at the time.
When I left certain communities and began studying other forms of spiritual enlightenment, broadening my perspective, I realized that truth could be found in many texts. The more I looked back on my previous stints with any tradition, the more I realized that the reason things went wrong was not because the texts did not hold moral truths (they do), but because communities were adding their own agendas to the interpretation.
You can start to worship the words instead of the spirit. Which I think is true. The spirit of any tradition is the real truth. The words can be twisted and used to promote personal agendas.
The Problem with Narrow Study
One of the biggest problems I have with organized anything is that many practitioners give their texts their own slant to help push personal or institutional agendas.
Many are completely oblivious to the teachings of their own tradition as they are actually written, much less other traditions or even other denominations of their same path. Many feel they are spending time in the word on a daily basis, but are really just accepting someone else’s interpretation.
They are narrowing their spiritual perspective by not coming to their own interpretation, shunning (or perhaps exercising pure ignorance towards) any other point of view.
How Easily We Are Swayed
How easily are we, as intellectual beings, swayed in opinion by merely opening ourselves up to a concept or idea and keeping an unbiased and open mind while inundating ourselves with its message?
It is easy to get caught up in the latest fad of thought, spouting phrases and quotes from your latest intellectual discovery. It is easy to start to convince yourself that your viewpoint is right if you study only one side of any particular subject matter for too long.
What we should try to do more often, instead of drawing conclusions so quickly, is look at everything with an objective eye and study both sides of a story before drawing a conclusion.
If we would all take this approach with everything from spirituality to politics to comparative shopping, we’d probably be living in a world much more at peace with itself.
The First to Present His Case
There’s an old proverb: The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him.
Where do you stand? Step inside someone else’s shoes and walk around a bit.
When was the last time you approached your opinions and beliefs from a completely different perspective?
This is the lens the Bible is meant to be read through.
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