Rainbows and shrimp keeping us humble

Radiolab

recently had an episode that explored

colors

.

One of the things that was covered in the episode was that the human eye has three cones which can pick up the colors that you and I see. Radiolab used the metaphor of a rainbow. You and I look at a rainbow and see the light break into that ROYGBIV combination.

Can you see the difference between eggshell and off white?

This shrimp can.

However, there are other animals which see different colors when looking at a rainbow. Some animals see few colors while other animals see more. When you listen to the episode you will learn of Mantis Shrimp that can see a huge array of color that humans could only dream of seeing.

That is right, compared to this shrimp, we are dramatically color blind.

It is humbling to know that there are other creatures out there that can see more than I can see. It reminds me that there are other people that can see what I cannot see. It reminds me that I am color blind on a good number of things.

Something to keep in mind as learn to live together.

The greatest expression of freedom

From the Declaration of Independence to the libertarian movement to the spirit of Ayn Rand that is invoked each election cycle Americans love to talk about freedom.

We like to think that the greatest expression of freedom is to do what we are allowed to do. This is often the case when I talk with some people who carry guns.

"I carry a gun because it it my constitutional right! The 2nd amendment says..."

Or when I talk with people about free speech...

"This is America and I can say whatever I want. Or have you not read the 1st amendment..."

Or even when talking with people who buy things that just do not make sense...

"Why did I buy this leopard printed toilet seat? Because I can."

Christians have long understood that these silly examples are not expressions of total freedom. When we say that we are free in Christ or that Christ has set us free for the sake of freedom, we are not talking about being able to do whatever we want "just because we can."

True freedom comes in choosing to be limited.

There is no greater expression of freedom then being able to do then choosing to not do it.

When people are taken into slavery, they are forced to work and work hard. They are not free to refrain from working nor are they free to choose when they will work and for how long. Freedom is not in what you can do but what you choose not to do.

This is what makes the spiritual practices an expression of freedom. We do not have to, lets say, fast from eating. God does not require fasting, we are free from the mandate to fast. And since we are free from this mandate, when we choose to fast, we are actually expressing the fullest extent of this freedom.

Freedom comes not in the ability to choose "to do" but in the ability to choose "not to do."

One tip to being a better conversationalist

Being in the role of the pastor means that there are a great deal of times in which I am engaged in conversation. While practicing the art (and it is an art) of conversation, it is becoming clear to me there is one thing that we all can work on in our conversation skills which really can help conversation move along and be fruitful.

Conversational narcissism is something that was recently commented on at Barking Up the Wrong Tree. Frankly I wanted to expand on this just a bit.

Sometimes when we are in conversation, it is helpful to ask a question which you already know the answer to. You might be thinking, this is a great idea! This gives me a chance to talk about a subject that I know about or it will give me a chance to correct people's knowledge and show others how much I really know! 

This is not the point. I would submit that to sometimes ask the question that you already "know" the answer to, not only moves conversation along and provides follow up questions, but it also gives the other person the practice of sharing what they too know. When we give others a chance to share what they know we build up the other. 

But here is the kicker, when we ask questions that we "know" the answer to, we may come to discover that we in fact did not know the answer and come away from the conversation learning something that we did not know but thought we did. And when we discover that what we thought we knew was only in part to what reality is, then we get to practice humility. 

Asking the question that we "know" the answer to might in fact reveal that we do not know much at all.

Are you open to learn something that you thought you already knew?