"How fortunate you are; now you are wealthy" said a Chinese farmer's friends after a strong young horse wandered into his farm. Having a horse made all the difference between being a poor farmer and a wealthy farmer; the horse allowed one to till more land, to grow more food than the family could consume, enough to take to market.
"Perhaps!" was the wise farmer's reply, much to the puzzlement of friends.
Next day, as the farmer's son was working to train the horse, he was thrown so hard he broke his leg. "How unfortunate you are; your horse is no good and now even your son cannot help with the crops."
"Perhaps!" was the wise farmer's reply, again to the puzzlement of friends.
Next day the army came through the village, conscripting all the healthy young men, taking them off to war. "How fortunate you are; your son's broken leg kept him from being conscripted..."
"Perhaps!" was the wise farmer's reply, again to the puzzlement of friends...
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The human is the meaning making animal. Making meaning is a distinguishing characteristic of the human being. In "The Meaning Makers" (Chapter 1 in The Life of Meaning) Bob Abernathy and William Bole trace the understanding of what distinguishes humans from other animals. Aristotle identified our social nature, but we share that with some other animals. Benjamin Franklin identified us as "the tool makers;" since then we've discovered that chimpanzees make tools, too. Our distinction, they conclude, is that we are the meaning making animal: "We manufacture meaning out of the rawest of materials -- out of sickness, war, death, as well as routine events."
Observing this meaning making process is part of Spiritual Assessment. Jerry Davis, one of my early mentors told us chaplain interns: "Chaplains aren't often here to treat the illness; we are here to treat the meaning of the illness." Patients and clients often benefit when someone carefully observes and reflects on the meaning they give to their experience. Some helpful curiosity may consider these questions:
"Perhaps!" was the wise farmer's reply, much to the puzzlement of friends.
Next day, as the farmer's son was working to train the horse, he was thrown so hard he broke his leg. "How unfortunate you are; your horse is no good and now even your son cannot help with the crops."
"Perhaps!" was the wise farmer's reply, again to the puzzlement of friends.
Next day the army came through the village, conscripting all the healthy young men, taking them off to war. "How fortunate you are; your son's broken leg kept him from being conscripted..."
"Perhaps!" was the wise farmer's reply, again to the puzzlement of friends...
________________________________
The human is the meaning making animal. Making meaning is a distinguishing characteristic of the human being. In "The Meaning Makers" (Chapter 1 in The Life of Meaning) Bob Abernathy and William Bole trace the understanding of what distinguishes humans from other animals. Aristotle identified our social nature, but we share that with some other animals. Benjamin Franklin identified us as "the tool makers;" since then we've discovered that chimpanzees make tools, too. Our distinction, they conclude, is that we are the meaning making animal: "We manufacture meaning out of the rawest of materials -- out of sickness, war, death, as well as routine events."
Observing this meaning making process is part of Spiritual Assessment. Jerry Davis, one of my early mentors told us chaplain interns: "Chaplains aren't often here to treat the illness; we are here to treat the meaning of the illness." Patients and clients often benefit when someone carefully observes and reflects on the meaning they give to their experience. Some helpful curiosity may consider these questions:
- What meaning does this person give to this experience?
- How does he make this meaning rather than some other possible meaning?
- Is the expressed meaning congruent with the context or does it depend on convoluted thinking, such as denial of the obvious, to work?
- Are there patterns to meaning making like "awfulizing," minimizing, seeing a conspiracy in everything or a "devil behind every bush?"
- Does this meaning come from early life conditioning, religious or cultural conditioning? (Think of the farmer's friends) Or is it fresh and dynamic, open to more possibilities? (The farmer's response comes to mind)
- How well does this chosen meaning work for her? Does it lead to closed or open doors?
- Does this meaning promote "lessness" or "fulness" (helplessness, hopelessness or resourcefulness and hopefulness)
- How aware is she of her meaning making process? Is she a victim of meaning making patterns beyond her awareness ? Or does she have mastery of the process, to observe, evaluate and improve it?
- If given the opportunity, can this person reframe this experience in other possible meanings? If not, can he consider another meaning someone else might offer?
I'm reminded of this ancient statement of Epictetus: "When anything external distresses us, it is not the event which causes us pain, rather,our response to it... ... and this we have the power to revoke at every given moment."
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