Wonderings--January 24

So how do we know what we claim to know? And further, how do we, or how could we, break that model as we work toward faithfulness in God's kingdom? 

This is probably not the first time that you've heard a question of this type. I bet when confronted by this idea you sat back in your chair, gazed out at nothing in particular across the room, and engaged in the philosophical debate with yourself. 

I've been thinking about this question all morning based on something that I read. 

In the introduction of Daniel Kahneman's new book, Thinking Fast and Slow, he tells the story of daily walks that he took with a colleague and friend Amos. The two loved the walks and spend the long hours together thinking and reflecting on their combined research and theory. On one such walk, they created the following experiment. As you read it, I would like you to engage in with me: 

"An individual has been described by a neighbor as follows: "Frank is very shy and withdrawn, invariably helpful but with a little interest in people or in the world of reality. A meek and tidy soul, he has a need for order and structure, and a passion for detail." Is Frank more likely to be a librarian or a farmer?"

Now as. you re-read this challenge, I wonder if you can offer up an answer? 

As you offer your answer to the question, perhaps you brought your own person feelings, thoughts, and biases into the conversation? Perhaps you wondered about a particular 'meek and tidy person' who has 'a need for order and structure' into your mind and that helped inform you as to whether Frank could be a librarian or a farmer? 

But let's go back to Amos and Daniel on one of their long walks. . . . 

As they walked together and talked out the problem, they added some details to Frank's biography. For instance they offered the following statistic: Did you know that there are 20 male farmers for every one male librarian in the US? Because there are so many more males on a tractor who could identify as 'meek and tidy' we might not find them at help desks in a library. . . 

The whole experiment got me thinking--as I imagine you are doing right now. 

Perhaps we bring certain biases into our conversations with the people of our local community. And perhaps as we do so, we limit what might be possible in their lives? I imagine that this is done subconsciously, but as we project Amos and Daniel's thoughts out into the world of outreach and evangelism, we might begin to see that God is asking us to conceive of things differently. . . or dream bigger. 

Maybe God wants us to look out further and stop limiting what we think the outcome of our evangelism and outreach might be?

Blessings

Rev. Derek