(quick thoughts from while on the move) There's a "grammatical pun" in the title -- work it out! I'm a little tired of teaching - of being taught - the sort of teaching that says "this is how you must do things". It seems that this is all we get from the pulpit now days, or from the Christian books ... the implicit "How To" series that go "Jesus says ... therefore you should ..." They might be right, but they're often not helpful. Its the temptation to counsel: we love to tell others what they should do, yet more often than not it's misguided fluff that gives us a sense of satisfying superiority rather than being rooted in compassion. When I look at what has really informed my life its not what I've been taught, its what has been revealed: when telling truths are told. About the only sermons I can really remember are those very few that opened my eyes to a new insight (sorry to all you preachers, but most sermons simply remind me of what I'm already aware of). The books that have steered my life are those such as Chesterton's "Orthodoxy" -- it doesn't teach, it tells truths. The secular world can also tell some truths; Pratchett's revealing of human nature, xkcd's uncovering of our daily realities. Jesus likewise: he "taught" by telling truths of relationship in a rigid world of rules. The solution is in the title: telling truths needs talking with people, not talking at people.
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Why?
Probably the best therapy is to express yourself. Why do you think psychiatrists make you lie on the couch and talk, while all they do is murmur "hmmm", "uhuh", or "go on"? Archives
May 2017
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