Do Some Thinking This Fall
I think I would have to agree with the late psychiatrist and author M. Scott Peck when he says that “our society suffers from simplistic thinking.” According to Peck, “simplistic thinking” has become so pandemic in our society that it is considered normal and conventional wisdom among some segments of the population.” We witness this kind of thinking quite frequently -Years ago there was a very popular politician who declared that federal funding for AIDs research should be reduced because there was no reason to provide adequate resources for a disease brought on by deliberate, disgusting, and revolting conduct of those who are Gay – a perfect example of simplistic thinking rooted in ignorance and intolerance. Deep down in the belly of society’s prejudices, stereotypes, assumptions, and pre-judgments is a kind of laziness that breeds simplistic thinking. In this kind of thinking (or lack there of), there is no serious attempt to engage, ponder, meditate, or examine information that we are presented with on a daily basis (especially concerning religion and politics) and so we often suffer in the name of bigotry, hatred and division.
Thank God that the Bible is a thinking man’s/woman’s book! That is one of the many reasons that I love this book. It is not often described as such and it is unfortunately not appreciated as such, but in my many years of teaching Old Testament and New Testament studies, I am blown away by the way these wonderful stories in this sacred book stimulate the imagination and invite us to stretch beyond simplistic thinking and embrace the riches and complexities of life. In Genesis Chapter 1:1, we hear the words “In the beginning God created the Heavens and the earth and suddenly we can think about how mysteriously magnificent God is, how amazing it is that God created all that we see – each blade of grass, every animal, every living thing known to mankind. With the story of Abraham, we are challenged to think about faith and how the mystery of faith shapes our relationship with God in ways that are both personal and universal. With the story of Moses, we are challenged to think about leadership as we witness Moses deal with the ups and downs of leading a people who are in bondage physically, psychologically, and spiritually. Then of course there is Jesus, who in all of his parables challenges us to think about radical love, compassion, forgiveness and the spiritual reality of the Kingdom of God in contrast with reality of life here on earth.
In this sacred book called the Bible, we have all of the answers to life, love and happiness, but those realities will never be discovered without us doing the main thing that this book invites us to do – THINK.