Wonder
&
Words
Faith, Curiosity, and the Space Between
I think the “why” I am writing this is a critical foundation for the reader. The “why” may surprise you. I’m not here to win an argument or convince my own self that I am right and others are wrong. I’m really not here to convince anyone of anything at all. I am here to recover beauty. I think true Christianity is a bit of a lost art.
I have long been fascinated by near death experiences and the visions of heaven that people report. There are varying experiences- some see loved ones, some see Jesus himself, others but everyone reports back on the beauty. Quote here.
In a world filled with screens and concrete, we need to rediscover this beauty more than ever before. There is something distinctly beautiful about the Christian faith and the person of Jesus and at times it seems to get lost in the doctrines and arguments and politics of it all. I worry the angry voices and shouting have drowned out the music. The melody is soft but so distinct. There is a depth, mystery, and allure to the song and my hope is that we can quiet our own minds enough to hear it. And so, I start with a gentle challenge: Leave your assumptions at the door.
Whatever you are expecting to read here, try to erase it all and start with a blank slate. Our vision for this blog is to zoom out… way out. We imagine a fish in a fish bowl- bonking into the side of his bowl over and over for his entire life. That’s it, that’s all he knows- the world is his little glass sphere and he likes it alright. But imagine just for a moment that he could suddenly fly and hover above his aquarium. He would see above his fish bowl- and realize it’s sitting on a shelf which is part of a bigger room, which is part of a bigger house, which is part of an entire neighborhood… and on and on.
It’s not much different than this very real picture of the earth below. Entitled "Pale Blue Dot"-- this photograph was taken in February 1990, by the Voyager 1. It’s always a little jarring to realize how small you are. We get stuck in our own world - driving our commute in our little car, worrying about our own bills, health, and families. We can lose track of the infinite nature of our universe. So just take a moment and let this picture sink in.
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I'm not sure what answers you have to life’s biggest questions, but we can all admit we forget how small we are. And perhaps, looking at this picture gives you gut punch sort of a reminder.
I am not claiming to have all of the answers- just like you, I find this picture disturbing (although also oddly comforting on some level). I have, however, subscribed to the Christian faith for sometime now, so I hope to present it’s overall philosophy even if it’s with the limitations of my own mind and language. I write with a deep humility and recognize that I am unable to rid myself of all bias despite my best attempt to do so.
I was a sociology major in undergrad and have long been fascinated by the limitations of the human mind. Group think and “the Mandela effect” are topics I find riveting. On a broad scale, we as humans cannot always trust our own perception of reality. On a smaller scale, when and where we are born has a lot to do with our understanding of the world, too. We are all victims of our own cultural blindness. This term is most commonly used to describe a dominant racial group being unable to look past their own culture to understand a minority’s different perspective.
But on a broader scale, cultural blindness affects us in every possible way and reaches far beyond race. The human brain is a powerful information processing machine, but it also has many limitations. One of those weaknesses is perception – we do not perceive the world in a neutral or objective way (although we often think we do), but rather we are always filtering information based on past experiences and what our brain has been taught to pay attention to.
This is why eyewitness testimony is often so erroneous. If you were told a crime was going to occur and to pay attention to the man stealing the purse, you would likely correctly note that he was wearing a blue shirt. But without being given a “heads up” about paying attention to this particular stimuli, many eyewitnesses try to retrieve the information after the fact from a brain that is trying very hard to help, but simply cannot hold onto all information accurately at any given time. The result is an eyewitness who will confidently yet erroneously remember that the criminal was wearing a red shirt.
And the above vignette is just simple information- was the shirt blue or red. Factor in different opinions, beliefs, emotions, traumatic experiences, etc. and you have a very complex fish bowl on your hands!
So in many ways it is truly impossible to become a “fish out of water,” even though that is our goal here. While we can’t just erase our brains and start with a blank slate, we can take a moment to remember how small we are and how fallible our brains are. And may these realizations lead us to curiosity.
The purpose of this blog is to answer some curious questions related to Jesus and Christianity without the political drama, past religious trauma, etc. attached. We hope our words are full of wonder, humility, and a blend of artful answers and room for mystery in order to provide a fresh perspective.
Please, don’t get us wrong, political and culturally relevant conversations absolutely have a place, too, but we are trying to do something specific here. We think political agendas and cultural blinders have clouded Jesus’ true message. It was a problem back in his day, too. He was constantly being pulled into the drama between the Jews and the Romans and the various sects among the Jewish religious leaders of the day, but he rose above the fray and insisted his message went beyond the culture, the time, the place, and the world as we know it. He claimed his salvation was for all people. We can also say with certainty that we know followers of Jesus from all backgrounds, and on every side of the political spectrum so these factors are not hindrances to his offer of salvation.
So please, check your political views, past experiences with religious people, and whatever strong emotions you might already be feeling at the door. Again, they do matter. But for right here and right now, try to take a breath out of the water and find yourself in a state of humble curiosity.