I would like to continue to explore some life lessons from the last four years of college. The proverb I will discuss derives from a catholic prayer which made it way into United States churches in the early part of the 20th Century.
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, harmony;
Where there is error, truth;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
This particular prayer has had a great influence on my own life, and it is the emphasis on understanding which I take most to heart. Just as this prayer operates first in negation, then in affirmation, it is helpful for us to discuss what understanding is not, in order to make sense of proverb.
Understanding is not knowledge. Knowledge is a terminal activity of the mind, and in its pursuit mankind looks for singular answers to singular problems.
On the other hand, the pursuit of understanding is limitless and elusive. It is an activity of the mind and soul in which a person’s worldview is continually reshaped around the experience and stories of others. We as Christians must make a good faith attempt at understanding, while also acknowledging that we can never completely understand another’s circumstances. It is a strange paradox, but any grief counselor worth his or her stock will undoubtedly affirm, there should be great hesitation for any of us to say “I know how you feel.”
Nevertheless, we must humbly seek to understand the worldview of others as an activity of holy peacemaking and reconcilation. To seek understanding first is to be quick to listen and slow to speak (James 1:19). It is to allow others the more prestigious seat at the heavenly banquet in full assurance that the truth of Christ will win out in the end. This does not mean we accommodate falsity or compromise the truth, nor does it mean we remain silent in the face of injustice. However, it does mean that we first look for the truth of Christ in others, before we assume we have all the answers.
Kena Hawkins Newkirk 