The nature of the beast

The Apostle Paul warns us that we deal not “against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world.”  (And this was even before product placement.)  There are wars going on for your mind, body, and soul.  Those of you who aren’t religious can forget the religious connotations and come along for the ride, because I believe you will find truth in what I am saying.

Everybody is out to convince you of something: Obama and McCain, Ford and Toyota, Coke and Pepsi.  They are all after you.

It’s nice to be wanted.

But somewhere in the mix, we would like to make good decisions, and, where it is appropriate, we would like to find the truth.

There are two stories I want to tell:  One about the squirrel and one about the crawdad.

There was once a squirrel living in a nice lady’s yard.  She took a liking to it and started tossing it Cheetos.  At first it ignored them all together, but then it took notice.  It finally ate a Cheeto and liked the taste.  Then the lady began throwing them not so far from herself and the squirrel got closer and closer to the lady until, finally, the squirrel was eating out of the lady’s hand. (And it lived happily, for the rest of its days until she got a cat. Just kidding.)

By way of contrast, once upon a time, there was a crawdad who lived in a hole in the ground. One day, he smelled something so wonderful there was no word for it in his crawdad language. Let us refer to it as “bacon.”  He thought the bacon would be good to eat so he reached out and grabbed it.  He felt something tugging on it, but, as it was a gentle tug, he didn’t let go.  It was almost close enough to put into his mouth, so he approached it.

But no matter how closely he approached it, it receded. He climbed an inch at time until all at once some events happened in rapid succession. He was out in the open air, he was in a little boy’s grasp, and soon he was taking a bath that seemed entirely too hot.

One of the weapons we have in our arsenal is stubbornness.  This is a topic I know a bit about from an up close and personal point of view.  In the first of the stories, the forces of good are trying to overcome stubbornness, and, in the second, the forces of evil.

Each of these illustrates a method of gradual change.  In the first, the squirrel gradually felt more comfortable and in the second the crawdad gradually wound up in a stewpot.  Either method can be used for good or evil.

In determining good or evil, there is the rational approach.  For instance, whenever I teach hypothesis testing in Elementary Statistics, I teach them—without ever calling it that—the principal of stubbornness.  If you want to change someone’s mind, the burden is on you to prove your claim.  Conversely, if you believe something, you must insist on proof to change your mind.  You must have some criterion which, if met, would convince you that you were wrong.

I often come at the problem from the other side.  This is to say, I often am trying to convince someone that something is true. (Like the fact that “a” plus “b” quantity squared is equal to “a” squared plus two “a” times “b” plus “b” squared.) One technique is to guide the students to come up with this on their own.  I believe this is what Jesus was talking about when he was asked why he always taught in parables and replied, “That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.”

In trying to convince people, even Jesus came up against native stubbornness, even against being saved.  His solution—at least in some cases—was to plant seeds to allow the hearers to come to the conclusion on their own.

Now, I am not saying that coming to a conclusion on your own is a guarantee that it is true. Instead, I am saying that is the only way some folks will change their mind on anything.
Good and Evil both know where the library is.

Good luck.

Bobby Winters is Assistant Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Mathematics at Pittsburg State University.  He is pastor of the Opolis United Methodist Church.