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4I see, I forget.
I hear, I remember.
I do, I understand.
-Chinese Proverb
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The man behind the curtain
- Damien
- I like words, images, graphic design, well-turned phrases, doodling, humor and profundity. These are found in every quarter and I'm always on the hunt. I was rescued (in November, 1974) from guilt and a stubborn irrational belief in an impersonal chance universe (with the accompanying hopelessness). I'm now convinced that nothing is more obvious or worthy of our attention than our Creator and the one true ancient path. Only Jesus has the words of everlasting life. Like John Newton "I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see."
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7 comments:
for me it is,
I hear, I forget
I see, I understand
That's interesting Faith. And I think most people would tend to agree with your thinking and experience. But notice how our culture is tending to favor the visual over the auditory. Scripture emphasizes hearing and preaching over seeing and entertaining ("faith comes by hearing"). Think back to the Israelites who saw mighty miracles in the wilderness on a continual basis but kept "forgetting" to trust God. Also notice that television and movies are dominated by liberal ideology which is very successfully advanced through images which evoke feelings. Radio is being more successfully utilized by conservative pundits because they tend to use objectivity, rational argument and facts to persuade. What do you think?
If Faith comes by hearing, then what does Sarah come by??? :P
Hearing and seeing in the Old Testament mean slighly more than the good old physical senses.
Seeing is akin to understanding while hearing is akin to obeying. This is why hearing would be more favorable to merely seeing. Merely hearing (in the physical sense) is NOT commended. See James 1:23.
I think that your comparison between sound and image would be more persuasive if the catagories had been more similar. Film and movies are art while radio is prose. Compare movies to music, which produce feelings through the use of image and sound.
Compare radio to documentaries, which both tend to rely on more objective fact. Unless, of course, you are Michael Moore.
Touche! Miss Sarah. Excellent points all. "The first to make his case seems right, until another steps forth to examine him."
In truth my statements were rushed and not as carefully put forth as they should have been. But I am persuaded that Scripture presents hearing (with its multiple layers of meaning) as primary. Our natural tendency is to favor sight as in "seeing is believing." Both senses are profoundly important physically and spiritually. But do you think there's no significance to the order of the two in the proverb, "The hearing ear and the seeing eye are from the Lord?" Maybe not. But notice too how often Jesus prefaces with, "He who has ears to hear let him hear."
I'm fascinated to think that this ancient Chinese proverb (on the blog) conveys a timeless counter-cultural truth. The doing and understanding part of the equation is also set forth in Scripture. Obedience brings enlightenment. I find this in such places as John 7:17.
Thanks for the great feedback.
I hear ya.
Your comments have made me think about some contemporary worship songs: "open the eyes of my heart, Lord, I want to see you," "turn your eyes upon Jesus," or even "since mine eyes were fixed on Jesus, I've lost sight of all beside." Maybe we should revamp church worship to focus more on listening/obeying rather than on seeing/experiencing. One could argue that we are supposed to be enjoying God's presence in the worship service, but isn't it better to obey than to offer sacrifice? Or maybe I am just projecting my inability to conjure up raptuous feelings on demand (or else my sense that these feelings are somehow fake) onto my opinion in the matter.
It is also interesting to me that words are both aural and visual methods of communication. I especially notice this in poetry, where the connotations of feeling/thought are actually reversed: I've often heard a sonorous poem that just strikes me as sheer beauty, but I've rarely if ever seen a beautiful poem. Poems that play with form or punctuation or spacing on the page can often be aesthetically pleasing, but they strike me as playful or thoughtful and rarely as just plain overwhelmingly beautiful.
Anyway, that last point was more of a ramble than an argument.
Sarah, I really do see how the importance of language should enter into our approach to corporate worship, and how the lyrics of our songs should tie very directly to Scripture in its truth and imagery. One refrain that makes me cringe is, "like a rose trampled to the ground, he took the fall, and thought of me above all." This song starts out well but takes a sentimental turn and ends up sounding like something from Beauty and the Beast.
The importance of the preached and spoken word should also have an impact on the very architecture of the sanctuary (as it once did).
What do you think?
I liked reading this post. I need to think about this more. You have both given me a lot to think about. I need to work on listening more and understanding. And I agree about some lyrics to some of our worships songs, we have forgotten how to use words and the power of words. We are lazy, at least I am.
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