"Meditation in a Toolshed"

                While reading C.S. Lewis’, “Meditation in a Toolshed” I found the idea of looking along something verses looking at something to be very insightful.  It shows the difference between looking at things through logic and scientific research verses through our experiences.  However, I think these two broad ideas that could be broken down into four sub-parts of this same idea, by splitting these into four sub-parts we can see how interdependent each part is.  This interdependence creates a type of unending circle between looking at and along things which helps to develop our world view. 

                C.S. Lewis describes in this article how we see things differently through experiences and through sciences and logic.  In my theology class we talked about how we must approach theology first from the scriptures, then from history and tradition, then logic, and finally experience.  I believe this can be applied to not only understanding Christian theology but all views.  In our class discussion, Professor Adriana Ribeiro explained how we can see our world because the sun is there.  She went on to describe how God is in many ways like the sun in that when we are living our lives for him he gives us wisdom and knowledge.  As finite creatures we cannot see things completely as they really are, however, God the creator through grace can reveal to us wisdom.  As scripture is a major way that God speaks His word to us it would make sense that this would be a good way to look at all topics.  However, scripture though infallible is often misinterpreted and therefore we must not rely solely on scripture in the development of our world view.  History and tradition are also important for developing beliefs.  It is history and our upbringing that helps us develop our ways of thinking.  We can also learn from our wiser predecessors experiences.  However, this is way of thinking is not completely reliable.  For example, in C.S. Lewis’ example of the savage doing a rain dance, the idea of a rain dance bringing fertile crops was probably passed down from one generation to the next even though dancing scientifically can’t make it rain.  This leads to the necessity of logic and science, the necessity to in C.S. Lewis’ terms, look at something.  God has created a logical world with natural patterns.  Hypotheses should be tested.  We cannot rely on history and the scientific advancements of the past to always be correct, they are constantly being revised. In this way it is crucial that we look at things from a scientific perspective as well.  This way of looking at things also falls short of accuracy.  C.S. Lewis gives the example of pain.  He goes on to say, “A physiologist, for example, can study pain and find out that it ‘is’ (whatever is means) such and such neural events.  But the word pain would have no meaning for him unless he had ‘been inside’ by actually suffering”.  This brings us to the fourth way of looking at things: experience.  C.S. Lewis describes experience as looking along something.  In the example of pain, experiencing pain was necessary to understand pain.  However, experiences can be misleading.  We often have many different experiences of the same thing.  If we continue with the idea of pain, I remember the first time my brother hit me.  However, I also remember my parents giving me a spanking for walking into the street by myself.  These two similar experiences taught me two different things about pain.  The first taught me pain meant I was being physically threatened and that pain was a very bad thing.  However, being spanked taught me my actions have consequences; if I go out in the road again I will consistently be spanked.  Multiple experiences can help us understand the ideas better while also at times can confuse and mislead us.  In this way we cannot rely on experience to be true either.  This concludes to the interdependence of all of these different ways of looking at things.  As C.S. Lewis notes, “the period of Brow-beating has got to end”.  We must not consider one way of thinking as singularly the most important.  Each way of thinking has its advantages but also its flaws.  Therefore, we must look at things in more than one way, even if we can see things better one way than another.

                In class someone asked which should come first, looking at something or looking along something.  I don’t think you can say that one way of thinking should always come first.  It seems to me as though our knowledge helps us to interpret our experiences, yet our experiences clarify the knowledge we have.  It as if these two different ways of looking at things are constantly revising each other.  If we go back to the example of multiple types of pain, first we experience the pain for example of getting hit by a sibling.  Then we develop a sort of scientific knowledge of what we believe pain is and our view of pain.  Then we have another experience of pain, a spanking.  These changes are previous assumptions about pain because we realize what we do can cause us pain, or help us avoid pain.  Then as our knowledge increases we understand that we were getting spanked as a form of discipline to help keep us safe even though pain was previously viewed as being scary and unsafe.  In this way our views are constantly being edited and revised as we learn more and have new experiences.

 At the end of class Professor Ribeiro drew a diagram of how wisdom is our actions leading to an unfolding of understanding which changes our world view and then our worldview affects how we act which goes on to repeat the circle.  I think that is a great summarization of how experiences and knowledge go hand in hand in helping us get a better picture of what things really are.