Ask Your Heart

Ask your heart, “Does this make me more awake? Does this make me free?”

My mind is a very imprecise instrument for perceiving and understanding reality. I have all sorts of biases that color my decision making processes. Even when I manage to confront an inconvenient fact, I would rather explain it away than question my underlying world view. I react emotionally to my environment rather than studying and understanding the world that surrounds me. Some of this is a good thing. If one of my ancestors heard a rustle in the bushes she thought might be a tiger then stopped to investigate the reality of her assumption, I wouldn’t be here writing this blog. On the other hand we are in the middle of a presidential election campaign. I am inundated with lies, exaggerations, and misrepresentations packaged by the best expertise money can buy to take advantage of my fears and prejudices.

There is a way to look deeply into what is, but it is not always easy or natural. I belong to various groups. I work at a defense laboratory. I attend a conservative Protestant American Church. Since I live in Maryland, I must register my party affiliation if I ever wish to vote in a primary. I am inclined to believe that people who generally agree with me must be pretty smart, so I am more likely to believe their answer to a question quite disconnected from their area of expertise.

Psychologists tell us we form group loyalties over quite trivial distinctions. Then we base how we interact with others on the basis of these loyalties, rather than looking for the truth.

We all suffer from what is termed with the Dunning-Kruger effect. I tend to over rate my own competence. Surveys indicate that over 2/3 of Americans graduated in the top half of their high school class. Hmmm… Worse 50% of high school varsity football players believe they have a shot at the NFL. The truth is more like 1 out of 3,000 college football players will make it to the NFL.

If I like a person, I am more likely to think he is right, no matter what the subject. Truth exists where it is found. Someone I dislike may possess knowledge that I need. If I am unable to hear the truth because I don’t like the speaker, it is my loss.

I interact with a universe. Unconscious assumptions I make about nature color my decisions and my understanding of reality. The well known Franciscan author Richard Rohr observes:

Life is hard.
You are not that important.
Your life is not about you.
You are not in control.
You are going to die.

I am not the center of the universe, yet I persist in believing that the universe “owes” me something if I make decisions on the basis of my own prejudices and assumptions. The flip side of this insidious shortcoming is the belief my bad fortune is always unjust, but that when something bad happens to my neighbor, they deserved it.

As we watch the world and our own mental activities, look deeply into your own heart. Examine your motivations and your operating assumptions. When you find you are making decisions on the basis of fear, ignorance, or greed, be merciful; forgive yourself. Then look deeply into the truth of the situation. You can tell when you are headed in the right direction. The truth will always make you more awake. The truth will always make you free.

John 8:

[31] Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
[32] And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
[33] They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
[34] Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
[35] And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
[36] If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.