Thinking something different

«Discovery consists of looking at the same thing as everyone else and thinking something different.» — Roger von Oech

I love this quote. I found it in the sign-off of an e-mail from a friend and it has provided a good deal of reflection, some of which I offer to you today.

First is the use of the word «discovery.» You could replace that word with «worship» and the quote would still work. «Worship consists of looking at the same thing as everyone else and thinking something different.» I have found a good deal of worship is discovery. As we find out more about who we are and why we are here, we discover that God is more involved than we thought. When you find out the truth about God, it’s like discovering what was always there; we just missed it somehow.

C.S. Lewis coined the phrase «of course» to describe the discovery of God’s presence in the world and in our lives. Worship is the uncovering of God at work in the world. It’s all about discovery. For instance, when you find out you were made for God, it’s not like some radical thought that never crossed your mind. It’s almost as if you knew it, but you forgot. The phrase «of course» seems to capture this discovery aspect perfectly. A purpose driven life rings true because it confirms something we all knew deep inside; it’s just that no one put words to it for our generation until now.

Secondly, I like thinking something different. A follower of Christ looks at things differently. Learning to «see» is a lot of what it means to be a Christian. Christ gives us new eyes, and nothing looks the same to us anymore.

A follower of Christ looks at:
death and thinks life,
losing and thinks winning,
tragedy and thinks opportunity,
brokenness and thinks humility,
accidents and thinks purpose,
coincidence and thinks destiny,
despair and thinks hope,
poverty and thinks wealth,
wealth and thinks poverty,
failure and thinks success,
the seen and thinks about the unseen,
history and thinks God’s story,
science and thinks God’s laws,
psychology and thinks Christ’s wisdom,
anthropology and thinks God’s image,
astronomy and thinks God’s heavens,
the human body and thinks God’s dwelling place,
war and thinks man’s rebellion,
the cross and thinks everything made new,
truth and thinks Jesus.

The list is certainly not exhaustive. You can add to it I’m sure. In fact, that would be a good idea – to add to this list your own observations. You might surprise yourself at what you come up with. A lot of what we know, we don’t know until we think about it. You might just discover you think something different!

by John Fischer