Notes from Norman

When New Information Makes You Uncomfortable

Sometimes we become threatened when we come to awareness of the fact that our previous understanding of things is either flawed or incomplete. It’s like putting on a new pair of shoes. It feels uncomfortable at first. I ran across an analogy which I find helpful when I deal with that discomfort. “It is easy to think you have mastered Shakespeare’s plays if all you have on the shelf is the comedies. When someone brings you all the other plays as well – the tragedies and the history plays – plus a volume or two of the great man’s poetry for good measure – you will complain that things are now getting confused and highly complex. But you are actually closer to understanding Shakespeare, not further away.” N. T. Wright. Simply Christian. p. 63.

posted by Norman @ 6:59 PM