"Confronted with an idea that repudiates one we have held for years, we go far out of our way, entirely around the idea, to keep from being compelled to analyze and possibly absorb it." --Ernest Holmes
The other day I ran across a lengthy cartoon about our long-held ideas and core beliefs. The cartoon explained that we can take a new idea unless it comes too close to one of our core beliefs.
The illustration used was George Washington's teeth: we all grew up learning that Washington's false teeth were made of wood. First, the cartoon said that this wasn't true, that Washington's false teeth were first made of a lot of materials: first, ivory, later, a combination of hippopotamus ivory and human teeth (with a little gold and lead thrown in). Then, the cartoon said (as an ILLUSTRATION ONLY, not a statement of fact) that Washington had false teeth made from the teeth of slaves.
It is so much harder to accept the last statement about using the teeth of slaves! The father of our country?!? Nooooooo! It is much, MUCH easier to accept that his teeth were made of animal bone and ivory, isn't it? We react to the statement about slaves' teeth much more viscerally and violently.
Yet it's just an idea. they're all just ideas. What would happen if we were to dispassionately analyze and research the idea about slaves' teeth along with the idea of the hippopotamus ivory teeth? (Truthfully, there is some evidence that he used teeth from his slaves, but it's not conclusive. Nobody knows the facts.)
What would happen if we approached all our closely-held beliefs this way -- without acting from the visceral reaction, but with calmness, with an open mind and heart? We might find out we've been holding erroneous ideas -- like the "facts" about Washington's wooden teeth -- far too dearly for far too long. We might open up to a new way of seeing. We might realize that we can see things differently - with love and openness and understanding.
With enormous love,
Rev. CC
|
