Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Do you live with bricks or springs?

Is your belief or meaning based on bricks or springs? Do you build a wall of premises and laws that are set in mortar? Or do you have steel springs that can take the weight of testing and not break? That can extend compassion to others and see their point of view?

I bring this up because I read about the brick vs. spring mentality lately in the book "Velvet Elvis". I pretty much agree with the writer in that we do not need to build a brick wall with rules, laws and premises that do not let others in and will not survive if a couple of bricks (interpretations) are knocked out of the walls.

Our faith needs to be like springs on a trampoline so the author states. I fall more in line with this view. We need to be able to flex, push, pull, and stretch our faith to learn more about it. It also lets us feel and understand the weight of problems, bumps in the roads and deep questions without breaking but extending. It also allows us to be more open, compassionate, and inviting to others who may not believe what we do.

The last thing the spring does is allows us to say "we don't know it all". We can explore, learn, and grow. A brick wall is stationary, made hard, with a foundation that won't allow it to move or grow. A spring on the other hand is flexible but retains it's shape. It can reach out to others, it can come back in to reflect but most of all it has the option to spread out a go deep.

Build your brick walls if you wish, but I enjoy jumping on the trampoline. Anyone care to join?

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