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The picture? I don’t even know. It’s my favorite pumpkin picture, transformed by additional research and work. Kind of like what education does to our brains and perspective…..maybe? |
Years ago, when I first started classes for my Masters Degree, I had a particularly esoteric professor (if there is such a thing; they’re all pretty esoteric). On our first night of class, she started by asking if we really wanted a Masters Degree.
“It will make you think differently,” she said. “You’ll lose what you once had.”
Someone in the class, maybe me, asked what in the world she was talking about.
“Education changes your perspective. It can make you much more cynical about the uneducated.”
Someone else in the class, probably not me, challenged her about that.
“Your undergrad taught you to think critically. That probably made you more critical about everything.”
For the next few years, while I worked on my degree, I thought about what she said, hoping to prove her wrong. Surely more education would enlighten me–not turn me cynical.
But, I think she was right. More critical thinking does change our thought patterns to be, well, more critical. More judgmental.
I’m thinking about this today as I’m eyeball deep in writing my next book. Writing theology has changed me–I think it’s made me more cynical. Certainly a deeper thinker. Is that the same thing as cynical? Complete opposite? Really, do I have any writing experience or education at all?
Studying the Bible professionally has deepened my faith, in a “Wow. God’s Word is amazing. I can’t believe how it fits together on so many levels.”
But–and maybe this is what that professor was talking about so long ago–deep study has narrowed my view. It’s hard to allow room for shallow interpretations of texts. It’s hard to tolerate misguided–if not well-meaning–curriculum and Bible studies.
A close-minded view to, say, Literature, seems safe. A close-minded view to faith really is kind of sad. A part of me really wishes I could go back to reading a scripture and not delving into the proper way to read the passage, the context, or how God wants us to apply it to our lives.
Because there’s something beautiful about a childlike faith, believing Jesus Loves Me, This I Know, with your whole heart…and not your whole (hypersensitive) mind.