A friend posed a question that continues to echo in my mind. “I realize you are comfortable with the way you make decision. However, I wonder why you believe that a single version of a tool can work in any and every situation. Do you have any tools like that?”
Initially I rebelled. Whatever my methods were, they had taken me a long way. While they were not perfect, they worked. With time and struggles of honesty, I found myself admitting that there were questions I struggled to answer. My decision process had limits. My approach had flaws. The challenge with admitting what I knew to be true is that I had no alternative.
The answer revealed itself as Life introduced familiar images. The rack of hammers on the wall of my shop was one. There are well over a dozen different types of hammers for different activities. From wooden mallets that I use when chiseling to a framing hammer that takes on the big nail challenges to a from tack hammer for those light brads and staples, the hammers varied by weights, size, and material. I realized that when I thought of sanders the same story played out – belt versus orbital disk versus spindle just to start. Even when I moved to cameras, different lenses and cameras bodies came to mind. Unless I went very generic, everything, even prayer had different forms to fit each circumstance.
I thought I had my answer to the initial question. Life has recently reminded me that my answer was still incomplete. Why should I assume that my perspective is the whole? Could others, including Divinity, have something to add? Could the consensus of the community strengthen my decision process, even if I disagreed with it? Would I be able to see more?
I am not the first to look for consensus. Certain cultures do it naturally. A wisdom father gave his response in a fatherly way. “All God’s churches see it this way; I don’t want you standing out as an exception.” (1 Corinthians 11.16)
Life always offers more.
