Thinking is hard. It can be painful. But it is oh so rewarding. Philosopher and thinker Eric Havelock said this about thinking:
Thinking [is] a very special type of psychic activity, very uncomfortable, but also very exciting…
Would you ever have thought of thinking as exciting? Study Hacks blog comments on this quote:
These two adjectives sum up well the sometimes complicated experience of deep work. This activity is not fun in the sense that it can cause mental strain and discomfort, but at the same time, the rewards it produces are richer than anything that the addictive digital bazaars of the attention economy can offer.
Maybe this is why this idea of "thinking as exciting" is such a foreign concept: In our world of instantaneous information and gratification, we simply do not want to spend the time to think, evaluate, contemplate, analyze, and yes, work. But in foregoing the hard work of thinking, we delve so skimpily into the subject, we rarely get to see the beauty of the idea. A treasure of gold might be underneath our feet, we might know its there, but if we decide its too much trouble to dig for that treasure, we will never experience the pleasure of opening the chest. The thrill is never ours to own.
I find this to be true with the things of God. We are far too easily satisfied with the surface of Scripture, rather than the treasure that needs to be dug up. Reading books about parenting are easier and more pressing than reading books by John Owen or John Calvin or Herman Bavinck. It's not that parenting books are unimportant, but when we limit ourselves to what we deem to be pragmatic, we limit our thinking. Therefore, we never get to the place where our hearts are inspired and transformed, which is probably the most pragmatic fruit any book could have upon us.
If you have never been to the place where you have read the same passage of Scripture 100 times and you stop and ponder and weigh and think and pray, you suddenly see something so marvelous so beautiful, it is probably because you are too busy to think and pray. Oh, but when you see it, you understand why the psalmist says, "Oh taste and see that the Lord is good."
May you take up the uncomfortable, but exciting task of thinking today. You'll never be the same.
I find this to be true with the things of God. We are far too easily satisfied with the surface of Scripture, rather than the treasure that needs to be dug up. Reading books about parenting are easier and more pressing than reading books by John Owen or John Calvin or Herman Bavinck. It's not that parenting books are unimportant, but when we limit ourselves to what we deem to be pragmatic, we limit our thinking. Therefore, we never get to the place where our hearts are inspired and transformed, which is probably the most pragmatic fruit any book could have upon us.
If you have never been to the place where you have read the same passage of Scripture 100 times and you stop and ponder and weigh and think and pray, you suddenly see something so marvelous so beautiful, it is probably because you are too busy to think and pray. Oh, but when you see it, you understand why the psalmist says, "Oh taste and see that the Lord is good."
May you take up the uncomfortable, but exciting task of thinking today. You'll never be the same.