The knowledge we have is a mix of information coming from the external world and our opinions. The worldview influences our understanding to the point of accepting or rejecting some news, ideas, disruptive discovering. This characteristic of the process of cognition protects us from manipulation. However, it may also be a means to manipulate someone since the worldview is active, not passive. Its changeability is a result of different factors. One of them is our knowledge which is changeable as well.
This process is visible not only in regard to academics or information showed on the TV. A girl can’t trust her boyfriend after he has betrayed her. A joint partner doesn’t trust his fellow partner who has stolen money. An employee ceases to believe his employer after he has neglected to pay the just salary or if the latter is aggressive towards the former. These situations are just examples of so many we experience in our lives. Usually, they protect against further harms one can experience as a result of ignorance.
There is also a set of “filters” that we can call prejudices. The word prejudice has a very bad connotation these days. However, looking at the etymological origin of the word, it is evident that we speak of some kind of a prior attitude towards the judgement we are about to make. They are not always false, but it involves one’s humility to make a judgement in indifference to the prejudice. Prejudice can make human’s thinking considered to be clearer, yet no more certain.
Jesus’ neighbours in Nazareth express their prejudice of His divinity. They have their image of Jesus, son of Joseph and Mary. They know him, his family, his simple lifestyle. Nevertheless, they are unable to take the step of faith – they can’t overcome that prejudice. They are stuck in their own images, ideas, understanding of things, thinking they know better.
Today’s passage gives us another opportunity to look at virtues and their importance for our faith. The virtue of humility in one’s spiritual and religious life is essential yet very often forgotten. One can have his idea of who God is, what the Church should teach, how worship should look like, to the point that neither Truth nor spiritual good can be achieved because there is only one thing that matters – pushing this opinion. Let us pray for an openness to God’s mystery. The mystery is not possible to be grasped in its fullness. God in His love is close to us, and this closeness enables us to know Him better. Let us humbly open our hearts to Him as He reveals Himself and as the Church teaches us about Him.
Łukasz Gołąb – Seminary of the Good Shepherd, Sydney, Australia
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