Not one single idea covers all
concepts. We cannot formularise life. But, our minds tend to think this way—that
there is an approach that works in every circumstance. The reality is, however,
God has created life according to his thinking and not ours (see Isaiah 55:8-9).
One proof of this: the moment we
are close to nailing a central and specific idea regarding life, pride enters
us, and a sharp barb of legalism protrudes from within us and becomes known to
others. To retain the humility of openness is key.
Knowledge Shrinks Wonder
Knowledge shrinks wonder; where we
think we have something ‘sorted’, there begins the many contradictions which go
to prove us wrong. It’s as if God created life this way to keep us grounded and
reliant, alone, on him.
Whenever we have arrived at set
ideas for living, thinking, and behaving—beyond the virtuous itself—we become,
as they say, set in our ways. This is no destination of godliness or virtue. It
is the destination of blindness, of shallowness, of real unabashed ignorance.
The more we think we know the more
we show we won’t know—because we are closed to new knowledge. With much
knowledge our curiosity for wonder diminishes, unless we enter deliberately into
humble mindfulness.
Nurturing the Beginner’s Mind
It would be better to remind
ourselves regularly, or become reminded, of the simple and complex wonders of
life. We can see them as both simple and complex, for they are both—and all
between. They look simple to us but the science tells us they are complex. God
wants us to enjoy their simplicity, and also to comprehend their complexity.
Shunryu Suzuki referred to what
I’m writing about as “the beginner’s mind.” To approach life in openness is to
live in the humility of the beginner’s mind.
If we understand anything at all
about our attachment as children, we will know that many of us have a need to
cling to our ideas—our personally relevant truths.
Entertaining the possibility of
new ‘truths’ is a freedom sponsored, as an activity of mindfulness, by God. And
so long as we are open to, and are learning, these truths, the essential
kernels of truth emerge, and we are blessed—presumably. The blessings of
open-mindedness are those enshrined in humility—the paradoxical nobility of
knowing one’s place in life, under God.
***
Open-mindedness, within the safe bounds
of truth, is the blessing of humility. Humility insists on nothing against
anybody. With humility we discern truth. Through openness we promote humility.
© 2012 S. J. Wickham.
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