To see the world solely from our own perspective, our own experience is a sort of prison. It's not that our experience is always invalid or wrong. But it's not the only perspective in the world. It may, in fact, be the perspective of very few.
The task of learning, then, is to humble ourselves to learn from others. To hear perspectives other than my own. To admit that I am the expert of my own experience, but not of someone else's. And when I draw conclusions on what is true, I cannot do so based off of the perspective I like best or sounds most like my own. I must be willing to admit when I was wrong, when I have something to unlearn.
Read Next
If only you knew—even now—the things that make for peace.
But you did not want peace. You wanted power. And now the things that make for peace are hidden from your eyes.
I was rescued from a lot. That's why I refuse to let my life happen accidentally. Inside my annual personal retreat and the roles-and-arete framework that keeps me honest.
Jesus didn't pray that you'd try harder. He prayed you'd be pulled into the life of God. Maybe it's time to loosen the grip.
Paul looked at the story of Sarah and Hagar and said, "These things are an allegory." No disclaimer, no apology. Ancient readers knew the difference between history and myth. Maybe it's time we trusted them—and ourselves—to read Scripture for what it means, not just what it says on the surface.
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I write about the Bible, books, and what it means to be human — with a bias toward love and liberation. Free subscribers get two emails a week. Paid subscribers get a third, plus access to everything on the site.
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