"Thinking Anew" produces thinking in which writer and readers are companions in the search for truth. When we "get the message" we share the delight of a fresh realisation of truth. I smile to myself when I recall the advice given to me by a wit: "Remember," he said, "people don't like being disturbed. They may not forgive you if you make them think!"
Something rather like that happened to the educated Jewish lawyer in the debate he had with Jesus about loving one's neighbour. To Jesus one's neighbour was "all people"; to the lawyer neighbours were only those of his own people, and certainly not Samaritans. It was indeed a tough "nut" to crack or change.
Here we notice Jesus's brilliant use of parables, telling an understandable story of everyday life to teach a heavenly truth. The story of the Samaritan loving and caring for his wounded neighbour was effective and unanswerable. The lawyer just had to accept the fact that all people we meet are our neighbours. One has to admire the lawyer's frankness in replying to Jesus's direct question: "Who was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?" He said: "He that showed mercy on him."
In "Thinking Anew" we can see the use of a parable in associating the simple and ordinary of everyday life with the profound and extra-ordinary (spiritual). It may take more than one quick perusal before the message is received and understood. Recently a faithful reader was pleased to report that only after some time thinking anew did "the penny drop" and he was valuing the messages. Even the disciples sometimes failed, at first, to "get the message" of the Lord's parables.
At a lovely place on the shore of Galilee there is an inlet surrounded by low hills coming down to the shore line, like an amphitheatre with perfect acoustics. There Jesus told the parable of the sower. He introduced it by pointing to a person sowing seeds on the hillside nearby. He noted the effect that differences in the soil could have on the seeds germination or growth.
You and I might think the parable would be easily understood. Yet Jesus noticed the disciples' need to have it explained. They asked him: "Why do you talk to them in parables?" His reply could be just as interesting to us: "Because you have been given the chance to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others have not."
"Teach me, my God and King,
In all things Thee to see;
That what I do in anything
To do it as for Thee!"
W.W.
PS: Please note a correction in the hymn at the end of my article of August 28th. In line two, "He is the lowly soul" should read "He to the lowly soul".