Reading a book like I follow a recipe

I am not a very good chef.  I tend to rely heavily on recipes.  You may be the same.

The thing about the way I cook is that I read the recipe and then do what it tells me to do.  Usually it turns out well, but there is a problem with that process.  When I do this, I do not pay attention to what I am reading.  I am reading "one cup of oil" and then I measure one cup of oil.  I do not, however, consider how much one cup of oil looks like in the pan.  I do not assess if I ought to add more/less oil because of my diet.  I just measure and pour.

So the next time I cook, either that recipe or another, I still have to measure out one cup of oil each time.  This slows my cooking process down, uses more dishes to measure and ensures that I will spend more time and resources cleaning up the mess that I have made.  Rather, if I could integrate the one cup of oil into my mind, then I would not need to measure each time and I could focus on experimenting with other ingredients in the future.

But since I don't integrate that into my mind, I am limited to sticking to the recipe.

When all the cooking is over I then evaluate if I like the results.  I decide if I "like" or "dislike" the meal.  The focus is on the end results.  If I like it, then I will cook it again.  If not then that recipe is out the window.

I find that many times I read a book in the same way I read a recipe.

I read the information, I do not integrate it into my mind (so I constantly have to keep referring back to the recipe/book each time I want to recall it) and I am limited on what I can do with that information.  I cannot experiment with the content of the book because I am too busy evaluating if I like what the author said or disliked it.

I read a recipe and then I evaluate it.
I read a book and then I evaluate it.

I miss the critical step of integration!  I am quick to judge the content (or the end result) that I forget to integrate what I read into my mind for future experimentation.

If we read the Bible in such a way that we read for information then we evaluate it right away, we do not even give another voice the chance to influence our thoughts/actions.  We judge it as good/bad without considering if it actually has something to add to our lives.

Might we learn as a Church to move beyond reading just for information and evaluation and learn to read also for integration.

That is when we are really cooking.

Trinitarian thinking...

Recently I read "The Opposable Mind: How Successful Leaders Win Through Integrative Thinking" and while I am still processing the book there is something that keeps coming to my mind - a need for trinitarian thinking.

In the book, Martin argues the need for integrative thinking (that is the ability to hold diametrically opposite ideas in one's mind at the same time) and this is very valuable. In religious terms I would say it is important for people (and very difficult for us) to be able to think in paradoxes. Jesus says the first will be last and the last will be first. Faith as a mustard seed can move mountains. Loose your life to gain it, gain your life by loosing your life. Paradox.

However valuable integrative/paradox thinking is, it seems to be only one leg of the tripod of thinking needed for Christians.

The other two legs being, Creative and Critical.

My wife is a very good critical thinker. She can look at a project and break it up into chunks in order to examine it very critically. She asks wonderful questions which make others see the project in a new light and she is able to tweak things in the project which many have missed. She has a very critical eye in the arts, child raising, and theology. The problem is, she is not that great at creating projects.

I find myself able to create projects. I love to try to design and create a large picture or vision which others can buy into and get excited about. I find myself shy of the details and not very interested in the minutia which would bring the project to life. I am not able to ask questions to the project in a way that critically examines the purpose of the project. I am not able to critically express my thoughts and when I hit a wall of critical thinkers, I tend to revert to shouting them out of the conversation. I can create ideas, but I am not that great at executing the details.

This is why I love to talk with Estee. She teaches me critical thinking skills all the time. She gives me books to read and angles to address in what I am thinking that I never thought of before. At the same time, I never loose my creative thinking skills in a conversation with her. I think when she talks with me, we are integrating our two thought processes together in ways which we could not do on our own because (in our own minds) they are diametrically opposite ways of thinking.

It is my prayer that we all continue to strive for trinitarian thinking. Creative, Critical, and Integrative.

When we get stuck on just one thought process we are not really embracing paradox. And if we cannot embrace paradox, we will never be able to understand Jesus.