Thinking about thinking

God gave us intellect. This attribute, intellect, is one of the ways in which we are created in the image of God. Intellect is a tool. He expects us to use it. Consider the parable of the talents (Matt 25: 15, 16). The idea is to use our intellect, not bury it in the ground.

Thinking is how we use intellect. We were born with intellect. Thus, we were born with the capacity to think. This attribute is one of the ways in which we differ from toads. Now don’t get me wrong here. I’m not a card-carrying member of the anti-toad association. But until I visit the Toad Library of Congress, tour the facility, read a few toad-authored books, and surf their web page, I’ll stick with my assessment that toads lack a key ingredient you and I have and, as noted, are expected to use.

Alas, most of us confuse thinking with day-dreaming. I’ll be the first to admit that day-dreaming might eventually lead to more structured thinking. But the two are not the same. Actually, thinking is what ought to follow day-dreaming. What I’m calling day-dreaming, some call creative thinking. Both have their place. We allow a stream of ideas and images flow as we “kick back.” In time, if kicking back doesn’t result in nodding off, one or more of these fleeting thoughts might lead us to the “aha” moment. If we reach that aha moment and do nothing more, the idea remains just that, a wispy notion, an aquarium without water. To transform the aha moment into something more functional requires … well, action. Thinking.

So let’s examine five critical verbs which go into the act of thinking.

• connect
• compare
• manipulate
• combine
• re-form

We connect when we associate one bit of information or one idea with another. Often this seems to happen by accident. Yet if we actively seek out a “connection” we find ourselves asking mental questions. For example, in church we hear, “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God” (Luke 20:25). We then ask ourselves, “Why Caesar? What has Rome to do with Jesus? Why would Jews pay taxes to Rome?” Soon, we make connections between Luke’s Gospel and secular history. We might then connect the paying of taxes to Caesar to the paying of today’s taxes to federal, state, and local governments. Further, we might connect that thought with another by asking ourselves what other civic responsibilities might be included under the umbrella idea of “rendering to Caesar.” Voting? Keeping abreast of issues? Being knowledgeable about candidates, and office holders? You get the point.

We compare when we examine one idea and mentally seek similarities and differences between that idea and another. On a mundane level, we often compare when shopping as we consider price, quantity or volume, or we assess features and quality of similar items. When we compare we are seeking similarities. For example, Job and Jonah seem similar in at least one respect. Both expressed disappointment in God. But comparing quickly brings to the table its cousin, contrasting. While to compare is to focus chiefly on similarities, to contrast is to examine differences. Both are essential ingredients of the thinking process. Differences between Job and Jonah soon become quite apparent. One of them seems to be a victim. The other rather brazenly disobeys God. If you’re not sure which is which, that’s okay. This is where curiosity enters the picture. Curiosity and thinking often result in discovering a need to reacquaint oneself with facts. Thinkers, being mentally active, will reach for the book, in this case the Bible, for a quick refresher.

We manipulate when we literally take a hands-on approach to examining something. The Latin manus leads to English manual, as in manual labor. To manipulate an idea, we do something with it. Play with it (mentally), play with the words, rearrange them. Look for words within words. Imagine what must have come immediately before an action and what might logically follow it. When viewing television video or news photos, always ask yourself what is not “on camera.” What was going on to the left, to the right, and behind that cameraman? Ask, “What’s wrong with (or missing from) this picture?” Ask why the reporter included this or avoided that in a news account. Ask yourself, “Who gains and who loses in this proposal or action?” Do the math! Always immediately think of the opposite number. If reporters tell us 40% favor proposition A, immediately remind yourself about the 60% who do not favor it! If the report tells us fifty-thousand gathered to demonstrate at an anti-name-your-issue rally, compare that figure, that fifty-thousand, with the city’s population. After all, fifty-thousand is fewer than the number of spectators attending one NFL football game. A different mental picture is sure to emerge.

Besides, half of those demonstrators probably came from out-of-town if not from some other country. And another 10% may have simply noticed the crowd and edged up to take a closer look. Always question the “facts.”

Focus on the difference between fact and opinion (watch for any synonym of good-better-best, and for should or will). Also, convert numbers until you find something recognizable. Ruth, we learn in the Bible, gleaned “about an ephah” of barley. An ephah is clearly a unit of measurement. After you refresh your memory on such things as bushels and pecks, you’ll find, as I did, that what Ruth gleaned (Ruth 3:17) amounted to about five one-gallon milk jugs filled with grain! I don’t know about you, but my mind immediately starts to wonder how many loaves of bread Ruth and Naomi might bake with that much grain.

Finally, manipulate by translating from one language to another as you read or listen. Or, trace the origin of a word, think of related words, find words within words. Try recasting a statement in reverse. Literally, turn it inside-out. Identify what it is not.

We combine when we mix or blend one idea or concept with another. Actually, this could be thought of as a subset of manipulate. Some creative television commercials come to mind here. A truck filled with smooth milk chocolate collides with another carrying a ton of peanut butter. Presto! We’ve got a new candy bar. Two angels in heaven. One has cream cheese, the other strawberries. They stumble, and, you guessed it. Something new to spread on your toasted bagel.

We re-form when we blend two or more ideas and come up with something new, original, or at least distinctively different. Blend a car with a boat. Now we’ve got an amphibious vehicle. Military folks use them, but so do civilians. Tourists in Santa Barbara, California, can ride the “Land Shark,” a Hydra Terra amphibious vehicle manufactured in New York State. Such vehicles can go from highway to waterway without stopping. Re-forming two vehicles into one is probably easier than what our Lord asked us to re-form. Jesus taught us to re-form our thinking when He said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:43-45). Hmmm. That does require some thinking.

Think about thinking. And when you do engage in thinking, think about how you are thinking. You might be on your way to a better understanding of, well, even God! After all, He wants us to discover Him. He gave us intellect. And like the parable of the ten gold coins (Luke 19:11), God expects us to use this gift and not say, “I kept it stored away in a handkerchief” as did one servant. Think. Then think about thinking. Exercise that gift. Make it grow!