Sometimes I’m not certain how much we get it. When a child is born, for example, as future parents, we spend so much time dreaming and scheming and planning and shaping all that we will teach them. And indeed, what a sweet opportunity.
But I wonder then if we’ve missed what’s wisest.
On the eve of the birth of my third son, as we anxiously but humbly attempted to sturdy our hearts, reorienting them to the divine plans for our life that we never expected, wanted, nor intended, a wise friend left a letter on my doorstep. “I look forward not to what I will teach Joshua. But to what he will teach me.”
It shouldn’t take a disability to see what’s wisest.
Then again, God uses all things.
As we ponder what’s happening in current culture, in the world around us, in the struggles we face both big and small, I wonder if one of the reasons the struggle is great and solution seems insurmountable — if not oft even preposterous — is because we’ve missed a foundational tenet in our approach to solution.
Let’s ponder for a moment…
What if, for instance…
- in our approach to the current inflationary crisis…
- in what’s best for our schools…
- in dealing with racial unrest and where discrimination is systemic and where it’s not…
- in religious conflict and even war…
- in addressing poverty…
- in foreign affairs, law enforcement, healthcare, etc….
- in government spending and accountability…
- in how to respond to a man who feels prompted to use his car as a weapon…
- in making sense of our rights and freedoms in how we use weapons…
- in the bias and sensationalism within our news…
What would it do to our political polarization…
What would it do to our social media conversation…
What would it do to our individual interaction…
What would it do if we actually realized the humbling truth that we have more to learn than to teach?
Let us say that slightly differently, but dare I say, profoundly…
What would it change in the perceived insurmountableness of solution if we recognized that the astuteness of our answers mattered less than the quality of our questions?
My sense is we’d have less bias in our news… fewer politicians convinced their political standing makes them brighter or better… and no more “I-just-have-to-say” tweets, rants, and off-putting expletives on social media.
Maybe solution is less dependent on having all the answers…
And more dependent on being a humble people.
Humble people ask questions. Humble people never belittle others. Humble people are not jealous nor care who gets the credit. Humble people don’t feel sorry for themselves nor spend so much time focusing on the wrongs of others. Humble people spend more time putting themselves in someone else’s shoes than on complaining about the shoes they’re actually wearing. Humble people are thankful; they’re known for their generous expressions of gratitude. Humble people forgo judgment and embrace respect. Humble people never think they’ve got it all figured out.
Precisely because humble people know they’ve never got it all figured out, they see other people — no matter age, stage or circumstance — no matter income, education or ethnicity — no matter any identifiable demographic — they see others as persons from whom they can learn.
What a sweet thing it would be — and what more solutions we could find to life’s struggles both big and small — if we began by being a humble people in how we viewed one another.
Respectfully…
AR