To know the difference between open-mindedness and casual belief.

A few years ago my present bishop, the Reverend Calvin McConnell, included in a sermon a few remarks on the New Age movement. He stated that some people are too open-minded, that they are like a house with all the windows stuck open, unable to protect themselves against the harsh elements.

I agree with the thought, but not with how it was stated. That is the problem with sermons (my own!) - unless we plan to devote the whole thing to such pregnant topics as open-mindedness, our remarks on them are very readily misinterpreted. This is, of course, largely due to the failure of many to make the distinctions dealt with in the above two sections. Many who heard the bishop's remarks, mistaking their narrow view for reality, and attributing to their rigid belief systems the honorific of fact, chose to hear his remark as a brief against open-mindedness. I'm quite certain they were wrong, because Bishop McConnell is one of the most open-minded people I know!

He was speaking of those who are "too open- minded." To my way of thinking, such folk are not open-minded at all. They are the mirror image of the closed-minded. To be open-minded we must leave behind the bi- polar universe (the place where we are if we allow ourselves to be under the influence of the good-versus-evil fruit) and find a new way of growing into reality (living the life of the kingdom).

The image of the house with the windows stuck open is very useful here. Let's stay with it for a while.

First, we will unstick the windows. It's our image and we can do so if we want to, so if you will come along with me for a time to see where we are headed, please allow the windows to open and close freely in that house you have imagined. Also, let's clean them and be certain the shades are up so we can see out and others can see in.

So, here we are in our house with fully operational windows. Why does our house have windows in the first place? Either to see out or to let fresh air in and hot air out when necessary. The seeing out is secondary. Yes, it has become a main function over time, and many modern windows serve only that function, but seeing out of a window was at first an improvement on the basic idea of "window."

Windows today typically have glass in them. Is the glass or other transparent material the window? Nope. The window is the opening in the wall which is NOT intended for people enter or exit; that particular opening is the door. The window is for other stuff to go in or out; air, sound and light, primarily. Back "when," we recognized that there are many times that we don't want those and other things getting in or out, so we figured out ways to plug the hole.

So the window as we have it today in all of its variety is a marvel of design and craft. It is the primary means of information flow and climate control in our house. Do you see that? I hope so, because we must move on.

Do you also see that the house is the symbol for our selves? It is a time honored symbol, and goes deep. I'll be using it here. It is US that we are talking about, is it not?

The goal in our actual house is to gain information from outside, and allow those outside to (at our option) gain certain knowledge of us; so we have windows filled with glass, and covered with shades that can be opened or closed. The goal is also (primarily, in fact) to maintain a livable, healthy atmosphere inside in relationship to that outside.

That is what I urge upon us: to maintain ourselves mentally, emotionally and spiritually so that we can (1) know as much as possible about what is going on "out there," (2) let "them" know what they need to about what is going on "inside," and (3) maintain our internal climate at a livable and healthy relationship to that which is going on environmentally outside.

In the house of our being, the windows are our beliefs. According to the first distinction which we made, all that we can know by looking out is what we perceive of reality. We know not to mistake our perception for reality itself. How can we KNOW? By testing reality with our beliefs. Open the window a little. How is the air? Does it feel OK, that fresh air? Open the window wider - - better yet! Eventually, we may go right out the door and experience directly. But that is a matter for the seventh discernment.

On another day, we crack the window and the air is poisoned. Close it back up. But we do not become afraid to try again. We learn to recognize sooner and sooner when to open and when to close. We begin to learn prudence.

Introduction, Ch. 1. What is Reality?, Ch. 2. Knowledge and belief., Ch. 3. What is being open- minded?, Ch. 4. Prudence and prejudice., Ch. 5. Simple and simplistic., Ch. 6. Creative and coercive., Ch. 7. Silence and absence

RETURN TO THE WISDOM MAIN PAGE         RETURN TO REVELATION GEEK PAGE