A few weeks back I was doing some online gaming with my son, Alden. We were in the heat of a game when I had an epiphany of sorts. Here I was, playing online with Alden and a few other people. I didn’t know who they were, or where they were from for that matter. I didn’t know if they were a 34 year-old software engineer, or a 10 year-old kid from Arkansas.
My how times have changed.
In the past, we gave people our respect and attention because of their education, or experience, or their position. We had this clear sense of what it took to “have the right to be heard” in a crowd.
Yet here I was, trusting and following someone’s advice that I had never met. I didn’t know their “position” or their “education” or their “experience” per se. I was thrown into a room online with them. I’m beginning to realize that I’m learning more from places that I never expected to.
The ways in which we have demanded respect are like badges that are beginning to vanish. With the advent of blogging and online conversation, we are learning new ways of respecting each other. Wisdom no longer is the sole possession of those who have the degrees, the title, or even certain experiences. Wisdom stands and falls based purely on itself.
Often we choose not to listen to truth, not because of the truth spoken, but based upon the person delivering it. Like view point, common background, common experience – all these often become the prejudices by which we judge whether we will agree or disagree.
But times are changing. The Internet has democratized the conversation. Now conversation is based around the ideas themselves, not some other artificial external “factors” that have lent credibility in the past. Today ideas resonate, not because of the position or power of the deliverer, but based upon what one has to say. Is it insightful? Is it filled with passion and wisdom? Does it harmonize with the way of Jesus?
Perhaps one of the least explored benefits of online conversations is in the ability to move us beyond our preconceived prejudices. No longer can we disregard what someone has to say because of a label they have. All we can deal with are the words in type. Yet therein lies the challenge. When all we have are ideas in print, we can easily forget that point of view is everything.
When I was born, the flag that flew over the hospital had 48 stars, representing the 48 states in the union. If you were to ask me what constituted the United States of America, I could have said the names of the 48 states. But what happens now that we’ve added 2 more states? Was my definition wrong? Yes, and no. It might have been misguided, but it was based upon my point of view at the time. Someone else might have a different point of view, and thus a slightly different sense of what the United States is all about.
When we feel that we’ve arrived at THE answer, an answer that does not allow for growth, we need to tread carefully. Someone else may have a different, and no less “right” or “wrong” point of view. There are some things that are static. There are also some things that are fluid. Truth it seems is often found somewhere in the middle of the fluidity.
This means we need to listen beyond our ears. We need to listen with a certain openness of heart to others viewpoint, because in the midst of the fluidity we might find some truth that stretches our understanding and our own point of view. Perhaps there are no truly “authoritative voices” anymore. There are always facts, but what we have are points of view on the facts.
So before we think we know what someone means, perhaps we should take the extra step to inquire where someone is coming from and what he or she may mean by a certain statement. Perhaps we need to give the benefit of the doubt, as we would want to be afforded to us.
In a word… grace.
Grace is what is essential in these high bandwidth conversations. We need the grace to hold various viewpoints in conversation – holding paradox gracefully. We need the grace to embrace and honor multiple ways of seeing things.
Only when we approach our high bandwidth conversations with grace can we truly engage and be changed by the conversation.
TheOOZE stands as just one place among many where these kinds of conversations are happening. There are a wide variety of people who are a part of TheOOZE community. Not everyone sees things the same way. In fact I don’t agree with everything written or posted on TheOOZE. But this is the beauty of it all. TheOOZE stands as a place where graceful exploration can take place, where we can learn from one another.
So take some time to enjoy the conversation here. Be a part of it. Jump on a message board, read an article, make a comment or two.
Your voice is needed. Your perspective is needed.
