Essential Questions

Put it in Practice
Although discussion of discerning our lenses may sound like an academic exercise, it is only meaningful as it exists in the practice of individuals, families, and communities. As human beings, daily we have opportunities to question, to listen, to see through the eyes of others, and to reflect on our experiences. To the extent that we do, we will become aware of our perspective, and more attentive when we listen to others.

The Best Conversationalists
Those who best practice this are the best conversationalists. If you sit down for coffee with someone who doesn't listen, doesn't ask good questions, and isn't able to enter into the story that you tell over a cup of joe, are you going to look forward to the next coffee break? Or are you going to find your calendar surprisingly full around the times that they suggest getting together? Aren't the people that we long to spend time with those who listen well to us, and who have the ability to help us to see a situation or friend "with new eyes"?


The Most Virtuous
Those who best practice these traits are also characterized by an uncommon delight in what is good, true and beautiful. Gladys Hunt, writing on the role of literature in the family makes the bold claim that, "[P]arents who read widely together with their children are going to be those who most influence their children, who have the largest worldview, who have an uncommon delight in what is good and true and beautiful - and an uncommon commitment to it." The practice of reading widely helps a person to see through the eyes of gifted, articulate authors and illustrators. Far from being an intellectual witch hunt for one's own blind spots, it is the quest for beauty that invigorates, and perpetuates this practice.

Who do you know who puts these things into practice? Who asks the hard and good - and often unexpected - questions? Who are the people who are aware of their own assumptions and lenses? What other qualities do they possess?