July 30, 2007
You’ll have to forgive me just this once. I have been reading The Tao of Pooh, so I’m feeling a little philosophical today.
If Benjamin Hoff (the author of The Tao of Pooh) is to be trusted, there are many similarities between the views of Taoism and the views of Christianity. He says, “Once you face and understand your limitations, you can work with them, instead of having them work against you and get in your way, which is what they do when you ignore them, whether you realize it or not. And then you will find that, in many cases, your limitations can be your strengths” (48). Apparently, quite a bit of Taoism is about accepting things as they are, yourself, your environment, those around you, and just allowing things to be in the hands of something that is out of your control instead of trying to change everything.
In 2 Corinthians, Paul tells the church of Corinth that he will not boast about himself unless it is to talk of his weaknesses: “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:8-10).
Throughout much of the Bible, God’s people usually fail when they either attempt to tamper with God’s plans, or when they try to work things out on their own, without God’s help, thus interfering with the natural order of things. Taoism also discourages this type of activity. When someone attempts to change the way things work, the natural order, it is usually so that they can say they did it, or they figured out how it works, rather than simply accepting that it just… is. Science does this, attempting to understand how and why and scratching its head when it can’t find an answer.
As a Christian myself, I have struggled to get to that point, to understand that some things don’t need to be explained. Faith is not easy to come by, nor should it be. A person has to give up quite a bit of themselves in order to understand that they are not in control. It is not easy to say, “This doesn’t make sense, but that’s okay.” Why do you think it is easier to believe in something when you are a child? Because your mind has not yet developed to the point where you start doubting, or rationalizing. That emerges with adulthood. So, can we learn from children and choose to just believe that some things don’t need to be explained in order to be believed.
Paul delighted in his weaknesses because he achieved much in spite of them and that was due to God’s work, not his own. He knew this and never took credit, never asked for pity from others. In fact, he did not try to interfere with the natural order of things and always worked with what God gave him.
Maybe I’m just superimposing my own beliefs onto others, and if so I apologize. I recommend the Tao of Pooh because it is a delightful read. Even if you are not interested in Taoism (which I was not), it is still a fun book that gives another perspective on the zany world of Winnie-the-Pooh.
