Quotes
I love quotes, brief snippets that pack a punch of meaning. I have the Quote of the Day on my Google home page and sometimes when I'm bored, I just go searching for quotes that really resonate with me. I have kept a journal of such quotes since I was a senior in high school. Sometimes they come from quote databases, sometimes from things I'm reading, even things friends say make it in there. They tend to be about education, changing the world, books, and such things.We recently had a few weeks of teaching on Worldviews in Sunday School. I'd had a fair amount of teaching on Worldview and arrogantly thought that my own worldview was pretty well-defined and that for the most part, it played out as I lived my life. But Scott shared that a Worldview is like an iceberg- 3/4s of it are under the level of our perception. Of course, I thought, "No, not mine. Mine is very informed by Scripture." And of course, my arrogance is being proved wrong. I see this in the quotes that resonate with me.
My quote journal starts off with a quote from Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, which I read senior year, "The mind of man is capable of anything- because everything is in it, all the past as well as all the future." Years later, it no longer resonates with me and I see its humanism. This is a hint to me that I am being transformed by the renewing of my mind.
Yet, many things that resonate, particularly in regard to education or changing the world, still seem to have little root in Biblical truth. Consider a recent entry from Plato's Republic, "Bodily exercise, when compulsory, does no harm to the body, but knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind." What does this say about my worldview and the transforming of my mind?
An apropos quote from Calvin clarifies some of this for me, "If we regard the Spirit of God as the sole fountain of truth, we shall neither reject the truth itself, nor despise it wherever it shall appear, unless we wish to dishonor the Spirit of God." So I see that there is truth in Eleanor Roosevelt's comment, "Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people."
So I must run to the living and active Word of God, let it transform my mind, teach me what is right and true, and judge the thoughts and attitudes of my heart. Then, only that which is truly good, true, and beautiful will resonate with me.
posted by CP @ 6:38 PM
2 thoughts
2 Comments:
Have you ever found a quote by Henry David Thoreau that talks about walking to the beat of a different drummer? I heard that quote in high school but quickly forgot most of it and I've never been able to find it again.
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps
it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to
the music which he hears, however measured or far away."
Its from Walden, which, honestly, I've never read, but may be teaching next year. Umm, summer reading...
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