Christian Living

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Larry Lilly's Letter Monday November 19, 2007

Due to severe poverty suffered over the last 15 to 20 years I have taken to trips to used book stores and the occasional yard sale where you really do find some rare treasures. I usually pay a minimum price, but if the Great Blonde is with me, when she gets finished shaming the owners of such antiquated trash they have been known to give the book to me and a little cash for gas to get home. The girl is a wonder.

I recently picked a up copy of Of Human Bondage by the gifted Somerset Maugham. I was amazed at the depth of the book and reminded of his tremendous ability to capture the humanity of humans. In describing one of his characters he used this phrase:

"Like all weak men he laid an exaggerated stress on not changing one's mind."

The tendency to refuse to change your mind at any time about anything seems to infect each generation and there is no known cure for the malady. It is a mark of wisdom to be stable minded, and it is a good thing to gather all available facts that are in your reach and that of your friends, but to refuse to change your mind or your plan, in other words, adjust, more often than not leads to one failure after another. I think it was Einstein who stated to the effect, "To persist in doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is a mark of insanity." Words to that effect. Well, if you won't change your mind, a static boredom is what is waiting for you.

Many of the greatest minds to have ever thought a thought on this earth have been men and women who have changed their mind about some very important issues. John Newton was the captain of a slave ship, known for his immorality with the slave women and brutality with the men. He changed his mind about Christ and thus also changed his mind about morals, slaves and the manner in which we are to treat all humans. He was a major influence on Wilberforce who influenced Lincoln.

Saul who was from Tarsus, a famous city in Turkey where Mark Anthony and Cleopatra had their little fling, was one of the most accomplished men of his time, yet when he changed his mind about Christ, everything about his life changed.

One of the most neglected teachings of our time is based on the Greek term, metanoia, meaning repentance, a change of mind concerning an opinion, an act or a mind set about God.

Before you brag too much about being hardheaded, think about how the world has been changed for the better because serious men and women changed their mind!

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2007 Use with credit.

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