I'm totally guilty of this. My tendency is to discredit someone if they bother me. Bad drivers, for instance. I really don't think of them as human beings. I'm not alone. I read something--somewhere--that noted: We find it much easier to fly off the handle when a car cuts us off than when a person walking in front of us does.

Why?

Because, typically, a person will notice their mistake and glance back at you. Often, you will note the apology on their face and drop it. But with cars, we don't see the face of the person. We don't get that flash of human connection. All we see is the giant ton of metal and plastic carelessly almost killing us. And what is responsible for that machine of death? Some thoughtless maniac behind the wheel.

I got to thinking about this after watching a brutal and awesome film over the weekend. As the hordes of enemies were quickly dispatched of, I cheered. They weren't human. But when one of the main characters was wounded, I felt the pain.

I propose, then, that our desensitization comes not from over-stimulation but dehumanization.

I love books with a clear villain. But I also love stories where I understand the bad guy. The best villains are the ones that make sense. We get it. We don't agree, but we understand.

I love that Sonlight's literature-rich programs contain so many human characters... both heroes and villains. We get the opportunity to consider the lives of others and decide how we will choose to live because of it.

May we not fall prey to dehumanizing others. Instead, may we all--me, especially--become sensitive to the people around us. May we see their humanity and not fixate on their actions.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

He squinted into the morning sun. Was it was safe to turn? The bright light made it impossible to see the intersection. He paused a moment. He didn't need to see the houses, the lawns, the trees, even the parked vehicles on the side of the road. What he needed to know was if there was a car stopped at the adjacent corner or not.

Nothing moved.

He turned right.

Intersection

I am often amazed by how little we need to know to make decisions. This narrow focus on the bits that matter enables us to live incredibly efficient lives.

But it also limits us.

My wife started working in our garden yesterday. A friend came over to help. They got to chatting about Victory Gardens. Apparently, many American families during WWI and WWII didn't know how to garden. So, we got Victory Garden videos describing what one was and how to do it. We quickly lose the skills and knowledge we don't use.

One of the benefits of being a homeschool parent is that you get to learn (or re-learn) things that do not fit into the minimum amount of information you need in the rest of life. Homeschooling, then, expands your horizons. In contrast, the problem of "teaching to a test" is that the minimum amount of information is predefined!

So whether you are gardening, reviewing fractions, rediscovering a remote portion of history, or simply taking in the beauty of literature, may you enjoy the enriching nature of homeschooling. You have an opportunity to see more than I did while stopped at the intersection this morning. You can take in the houses, the lawns, the trees, even the parked vehicles on the side of the road. You have the privilege of going beyond the bare minimum.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester

Criticism, confusion and false conclusions are an unfortunate byproduct of living in a fallen world. The internet isn't helping. Pure text--what should be the realm of ideas and ideas alone--is too easily misunderstood. We read intention, inflection and inference into structure, grammar and the ambiguity of connotation.

Worse yet, we can post our position to our fans and ignore the raving lunatics on the other side. They, of course, are doing the same thing by ignoring our inane drivel. We never have to actually hash out a debate with someone. We do not need to address their concerns before raising our own. And if all else fails, we can always point out how our opponent's views lead to death or damnation and we win!

How, then, do we have a meeting of the minds? How do we communicate if we have a fundamental disagreement about truth? If you are convinced--even rightly so--that I am dimwit, and I feel that you that you are ignoring my irrefutable argument, we're not going to get anywhere.

In light of recent events, I've started to wonder: How do we hope to be "winsome ambassadors for Christ" when people who fundamentally agree with one another can't reach common ground? As far as I can tell from briefly reading both sides, the disagreement comes down to: You said something mean and you shouldn't have/I merely told it like it is.

How do we judge such a situation?

That is crazy hard to do. ...if not completely impossible.

Over my years here at Sonlight, I have witness numerous such exchanges on the Forums and in emails. It's so easy to get defensive, to lash out. The harsh words of others burn. Still, the nagging question is always: How do we learn in such situations? Why don't we? And how do we tell when someone is simply clearly mistaken about us? And how do we help them see the truth?

Please continue to pray that Christians everywhere would be wise in how we speak, gracious in how we respond, and grow from the points of tension. May we never use the frustration and pain to dig ourselves deeper into our resolve to continue believing we are right at the cost of seeking truth.

The question I've never heard answered is this: If you and I disagree about truth, how do we find it?

What do you think?

 ~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester