humility

“How do we know if we are choosing well or poorly? Our problem begins when we believe that we can know, with any reliable accuracy, whatever is fully and completely true about any given moment, situation and circumstance.”

Wayne Muller, A Life of Being, Having and Doing Enough

Have you ever heard the story about the blind men and the elephant? One version of the story says that six blind men were asked to describe what an elephant looked like by feeling different parts of the elephant's body. One man feels a leg and says the elephant is like a tower; another one who feels the tail says it is like a rope; the one who feels the trunk says the elephant is like a large snake; the one who feels the ear says the elephant is like a fan, and the one who feels the side of the elephant says it feels like a wall.

Who's right? Well, actually all of them are. They each have a piece of the truth as they know it from their perspective. Ah, but there is the kicker – THEIR perspective. I am sure that each of them thought that had the full picture.

Have you ever done this? Been faced with a situation in which you build a conclusion off the information you find in front of you? I have – too many times. It just seems all too natural. Here are facts as I see them - I will build a story to fit those facts. The only problem is there are always more sides, more facts, more of everything than I can see. And one small detail may change the whole picture.

What if we lived life in such a way that we would begin with the premise that we never have access to the whole story and it might be prudent to hold our interpretation of the story loosely until we have more information? Who knows – the other pieces may fit into our story perfectly and may even confirm our version. But as good as that is, it is even better not to rush to a wrong conclusion because we think that what we see or believe tells the whole story.

Grace and peace,
Deb