Learning by Discovery

We all have our ways of learning. Some learn visually, some through listening, some through doing. 

And teachers have their own styles, too. Some use props, some give demonstrations, some use straight lecture, some show videos, some generate discussions. I love teaching, and I always like to generate discussions whenever possible.

But there are other ways to think about learning. Some learn the easy way, some the hard way. I know a lot of people who have to experience things the hard way. I'll never forget the first time I experienced hydroplaning. It was spring break 1983 and I was driving a friend's car on the open interstate in Florida. Of course it was raining. I had heard all about this thing called hydroplaning, but frankly I did not believe in it. How could something as heavy as a car be held off the road by a puddle of water? It didn't make sense. And I drove like it didn't make sense. The other two guys in the car were asleep, and I was making good time. I was probably going about 60 mph when I felt the car slip. Adrenaline washed through my veins and I quickly let off the gas. The car cooperated perfectly, and we kept on moving. At a more cautious speed. I don't think those guys ever knew there was a potential problem. And ever since then, I have been a believer in hydroplaning. That's what I mean about learning the hard way. It could have been disastrous.

Three cheers for learning the hard way, especially if it doesn't kill you and your friends.

But here's the point: You learn at a deeper level when you work for something. We call it the school of hard knocks or the voice of experience. 

And this is how we learn from the Bible. The biblical authors want their readers to learn through discovery. Think about the teaching of Jesus. So much of his teaching reads like riddles. He wants the listener to wrestle with the questions. Rather than just telling us the answers, he wants us to work for it. Notice how often Jesus answered questions with questions. He led people to think about themselves. He wanted them to experience discovery.

The Bible seems to leave out important details all over the place. Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 give two different accounts of creation. Which one is right? If they are both right, how can we reconcile these stories? Then in Genesis 4 we have the story of Cain and Abel. God liked Abel's sacrifice, but not Cain's. Why not? The story doesn't say. We have to think about it and wrestle with it.

As Westerners, we like to read the Bible "like you read the newspaper." But that's not how the Bible was written. God wants us to learn by discovery. He wants us to wrestle. He wants us to use our imaginations. He wants us to develop character and a heart like his. That takes a long time and lots of wrestling. 

Three more cheers for discovering.

Driven Legacy

I took down a piece of history this week. Behind my childhood home we built a "treehouse." It was not actually built on trees, but we always called it the treehouse. Up top it was a fort, the perfect place for sleepovers and daytime shenanigans. Underneath, it was a workshop and tool shed.

I have so many memories in that place. I played with neighborhood friends there, plotting, scheming, and watching the world from up high. When I had sleepovers there, we would often wander the neighborhood, dodging headlights and sneaking around. 

In the workshop, I put my creativity into action. I would spend hours alone there, taking parts of abandoned toys and making new creations. I loved working with electricity, hooking batteries up to electric motors and lights.

This building was constructed circa 1969. My dad, an engineer, envisioned this combination structure, and made it a reality. I probably helped as much as a 7-year-old could. The exterior of the treehouse was cedar shakes, and to this day I love the smell of cedar sawdust.

After Dad passed away in 2001, the treehouse did not get the loving upkeep it needed to survive. Mom didn't need that space, and I was the only one who ever went in there. A few years ago I salvaged all the treasures that remained.

When the roof deteriorated, the rest of the building became unsound. Buzzards found it to be quite hospitable for their purposes. I chased them out many times, but they just couldn't resist returning. 

Finally the time came to bid the place goodbye. After years of rot, I was surprised how much the treehouse resisted my crowbar. I gained even more respect for Dad's engineering. The four creosote posts on the corners were still mostly sound. I found layers of plywood, tarpaper, and linoleum under the timeless cedar shell. 

Pulling those old nails made me think about Dad driving them, one by one. By hand. No nail guns back then. There were big, 4" nails, small roofing tacks, and trim nails. It felt poignant to pull the nails he had driven. His sweat created such a special place for his family, especially me. His love filled that place.

It had served its purpose. It was time to move on. I'll be making some more projects with the salvaged lumber. Even with the treehouse gone, its legacy will endure. I want to carry on my dad's legacy of backyard building, solid engineering, and loving family. That's a lot to live up to.

Suicide Drone?

Sadly, three U.S. troops were killed over the weekend in a remote area of Jordan when a drone exploded over their military base. 

I heard a report on the radio describing it as a "suicide drone." Hmm. I understand that this was a weapon designed to self-destruct, that it was guided as a drone. But the reporter should not have given it that description.

The gaff makes me imagine the possibility of some AI destroying itself. If that ever happens, should we intervene to prevent it?

Lessons from Farming

I've been a farmer for over 10 years now. It has been a gradual transition for me, I'm spending more time on the farm every year. So I should be learning something about this ancient art called farming.

Unhealthy soil invites erosion.

It takes a long time to restore soil health.

For most crops, you only get one chance per year.

Farmers really need friends.

Farming keeps you at God's mercy.

Something is always trying to get your chickens and their eggs.

Kudzu does not stop erosion.

Kudzu does not really stop at all.

Green pastures speak peace.

All or Nothing

Yes, I have managed to write a blog every day in 2024. For some reason I found it difficult to write blogs last year. I had some good ideas, but never took the time to put words together. I think that I wanted my blogs to be fully persuasive and carefully thought out. I wanted lots of hits, and wanted to address topics that people care about. So, last year I went for (almost) nothing in terms of published writing. 

This year, I'm less concerned about getting lots of hits. I'm going for consistency in writing. It is a discipline for me. Hardly anybody is reading my posts, but oddly, I'm OK with that. 

I'm partly inspired by my daughter, Stephanie Meter, who confesses that she works through her thoughts with her keyboard. Check out her blog here https://stephaniebaileymeter.blogspot.com/. She starts a blog not knowing where it will go. I'm writing every day, kind of wondering where that will take me.

Don't worry, I'll let you know.

These chickens are working closer to "nothing" than "all," in terms of laying eggs... 

Rethinking the Death Penalty

I have something figured out, and then it doesn't make sense any more. Years ago I was a believer in the death penalty. It was clearly spelled out in the Old Testament. Anyone who causes blood to be shed, that person's blood should also be shed. It's all there in the Bible.

But you can get into trouble when you start thinking about what the Bible says. There are all kinds of nuances of meaning. You have to compare stories and situations in the Bible, and consider the laws and commands. Then you have to look at all of that in light of Jesus. Things that seem so straight forward and obvious at first, well, they are a lot more complicated when you consider what the Bible is actually communicating.

That's something I have been working on in recent years. I have taken to heart the idea that the Bible is meditation literature. What scripture says at face value is only part of the picture. Many of the stories and commands in scripture have to be held in tension. The truth is in the tension.

With capital punishment, the straight forward teaching in the Old Testament must be held in tension with the words of Jesus. One time the religious people brought to him a woman caught in adultery. They quoted the scripture that said she should be stoned. But Jesus would not sanction the death penalty for her. He made the point that we all have sinned. And he cautioned her to leave her life of sin. He granted her life.

Jesus is about life. When someone is executed, we take away from them the opportunity to turn away from sin. We all need new chances. 

I no longer support the death penalty.

Mystery

I was talking to a friend today about Jesus. She could not believe that Jesus was perfectly sinless. "He was a man, so of course he wasn't perfect," she declared. 

This is just common sense. People are sinful. Nobody's perfect. We all make mistakes. I invited my friend to acknowledge the mystery of the person of Jesus. It is the most bizarre thing to claim that any person was ever perfect.

But orthodox Christian faith has always declared that Jesus was indeed fully human and completely sinless. We can't wrap our minds around that. Some have worked and worked to explain it. But maybe God doesn't want us to explain it. Maybe God wants us to sit in the mystery of it, and ponder it. Here we have two different qualities that cannot both be true. And yet they are.

Life is full of so many mysteries. Pondering them may help us cope with life.