For our last bit of orientation on Friday morning, we were divided into groups to rotate between three rooms.
My group's first stop was good ol' Seminary Hall 101, where we learned this gem:
Critical thinking is "thinking about thinking."
Now if that isn't metaphysical enough, just imagine: we spent a half hour thinking about criticul thinking, i.e. thinking about thinking about thinking.
Surprisingly, it was not a particularly long half hour.
Dr. Melanie Johnson DeBaufre, "MJD", explained the rules of the game. She would put a quote on the board, and we would need to respond to it with only questions. We could additionally respond to other questions - but still only with more questions.
Sort of like this:
Only everyone playing at once, with no audience, no wages as big improvisation stars, and no Wayne Brady shaking his bum.
Shame.
But it was fun!
So MJD wrote this on the board: "You have all you need, if you just believe."
Ready? Go.
Questions poured out, punctuated with the natural rhythm of group collaboration and just a few lulls for silent thought.
Questions like
Believe in what?
What does it mean to have?
What is it to believe?
How will I know when I have it?
How will I know when I believe?
Why is it conditional?
Who is "you" - is it singular or plural?
MJD broke one silence with one of her own contributions:
Why are there quotation marks?
Instantaneously someone's interest was sparked -
Who said this?
- which began a conflagration of new ideas.
When was it said? Where? To whom?
Ultimately we discovered that the quote is a line from a Josh Groban song used in The Polar Express, which a number of us had never seen.
(This right here is the first I've heard/seen of it.)
The text took on still a new flavor when everyone in the room realized some had encountered it before and had some connotations of it, while others would never have known it was anything more than a Hallmark greeting. Even with a simple lyric, our impressions were different. It's certainly only a taste of what we'll discover as we discuss doctrine and history and philosophy.
After our own Questions Only and reviewing an amazing little handbook on Critical Thinking that I wish to God I'd had in undergrad, MJD wrote a new sentence on the board for us to discuss. This time, we were allowed to make statements as well.
Critical thinking is an important practice of ministry or a life of faith.
A hypothetical battle ensued in which we knew MJD was role-playing, but boy was her devil's advocate (no pun intended) going to be a tough nut to crack. It was a greatly informative exchange and it would be difficult to do it justice after the fact, but the most progress we made toward effective communication was one student's input in particular, giving a solid example of how love and kindness are sometimes not enough. She explained how U.S. American missionaries traveled to rebuild homes in Central America, and while they had the best of intentions, accepting the work in these struggling communities took away the wages from the people who lived there. They did not know it at the time, but if they had thought critically about the conditions and the actions they chose to take, they may have found an even more helpful option that would not only reflect their compassion but also a more informed decision.
"...Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind..." (Luke 10:27)
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