Is it better to think more? Or think otherwise?
“I’ve abandoned all hope that we can think our way out of the mess we’ve made of the world. The pathology that besets us in this cultural moment is a failure of imagination, specifically the failure to imagine the other as neighbor.” – James K. A. Smith
Speaking of messes, you can probably count on two hands the pressing problems our world is facing right now. But still – there is a certain giddiness in the atmosphere these days, as communities emerge from unbelievable restrictions in daily life, with travel, school, work, restaurants – even worship services. We’ve been stuck for over a year…and now we are un-stuck.
Un-stuck from what, exactly?
If you are living like a lot of folks in new-found freedom, you are not only un-stuck from pandemic limitations, you are un-stuck from a pre-covid cycle of unproductive and unsatisfying activities and obligations. Are you tempted to pick up where you left off over a year ago – or, better, is this an opportunity to imagine something different.
Time for a re-think.
In a recent article, respected philosopher James K.A. Smith – who deep-thinks as a vocation and avocation – admitted that up until recently he believed that problems could be solved if only people would think critically, thoroughly, rationally. This usually required changing someone else’s mind. “If only we could think more carefully, the truth would come out. Good arguments would save us…” So, presumably, the better argument wins.
Yeah, no. It’s not wrong, but it isn’t enough. So what does it take for truth to be known – the truth that will save us from the messes we have made – if not through rational argument?
Love. Without love for the person you are attempting to convince [rationally], both heart and mind are closed to listening and considering. With love – your love of the other person is all it takes – a tractor-beam of truth goes straight to the heart, frictionless!
“Love alone is credible; nothing else can be believed, and nothing else ought to be believed.” – Hans Urs von Balthasar
Imagine the other as neighbor.
When we were stuck last year, we learned to look for each other online, to zoom or facetime faraway family and friends regularly, and to look for each other in our neighborhoods. We learned to see each other in different ways. Now that we are un-stuck, let’s see bigger, deeper. Let’s see everyone in different ways…let’s not fail – again – to imagine everyone as our neighbor.
Now we know, truth is often disputed, regardless of good, intellectual arguments. So let’s not start with the mind, let’s love our way to the heart and let truth be revealed.
Love is always credible.
