Educated thinker

I have never been one to take things at face value. I don't know where this comes from. I am sure it comes from various places and people in my life. For whatever reason I was always the one that had to know __________ (fill in the blank) for myself. Like all things, this has it's positives and negatives. Somethings are much better experience through the stories and books of others. Other things, like that of thinking, should be experienced first hand.

I have always took it for granted that others believe this, but time and time again I am reminded how stupid humans are (myself included). We want the easy way out. We want to be spoon fed and gain our knowledge through osmosis instead of doing the hard and messy work of finding truth out for ourselves. Today I was reminded of this sad reality through reading Jonathan Brink's blog. http://jonathanbrink.com/2009/06/03/just-tell-me-how-to-think/

I am thankful that more often than not, I dig through the muck and seek out truth for myself. I used to be the one in Jonathan's story that hung on every word of others I thought to be trust worthy. I used to eat up what my pastor or the current Christian writer thought. Filing away fact after fact, waiting for the right opportunity to bring it out of the bag and wow my Christian friends. I was known as the smart one, the one that knew the Bible. The spiritual one that could recommend you this book or that book, as if I had actually read them. Which I didn't. I didn't read much of anything in those days. I looked at Christianity as a competition of who knew the most and was up on the latest books and happenings within the Christian subculture. Now people like that, like I was, make me sad. I am close with one like that right now and it drives me nuts. I keep wanting to scream, "I don't care what you heard or what your pastor thinks, I want to know what you think!" But I only know that will drive him further away and deeper into his pastor's care.

Today I like to think of myself not a free thinker, though I know many who would accuse me of that, but of being an educated thinker. I am among those that ask "why", instead of those that "what". Instead of being those that ask what they want to be when they grow up, I am the few that ask why do you care or why does it matter. I feel that there are more important questions that need to be answered before one can spend their time on what I feel are trivial matters. But I digress.

I no longer take what I hear and assume that it is true. I evaluate it. I try it out. I see if it holds water. I talk and walk with those that hold that position or those that don't. I see it from all angles possible and then and only then do I begin to assume or reject it for myself.

A long process? Oh yes. Somethings have taken me years to work through and I feel that I have not even touched the surface. But other things I feel I have begun to understand quite well.

Though the road is tough and long, at times terribly long, I encourage others on this road of thinking for themselves to keep one foot in front of the other.