The complexity of the human brain is staggering. Though it only weighs about three pounds and makes up only 2% of the total weight of the human body, it can consume up to 25% of the energy the body uses! There are as many as 100,000,000,000 neurons and as many as 1,000,000,000,000,000 synaptic connections. New Knowledge or the development of new skills leads to a physical restructuring of the neural pathways. Given this degree of complexity, it is important for the brain to organize, sort, and prioritize the many processes that it must engage in so that it can function effectively. It must also filter our extraneous stimuli so that they do not take up valuable processing power form the brain.
How does this work in practice? Basic bodily functions are all automated, skills acquired become more automated (think about the difference between first learning how to drive a car versus driving a car once you have gained 20 years of experience), and reactions become automatic. As you drive, you probably pay little attention to the size, shape, or color of vehicles going in the other direction. You also ignore routine sounds like airplanes, noises made by the wind, or chatter by strangers.
As part of its functioning, your mind also develops a “worldview.” which is a fundamental set of assumptions and beliefs about how the world works and about how life is supposed to be lived. Your worldview defines how you perceive reality. Its construction is based on experiences, education, lessons learned, and socialization into a particular culture. When you interpret a sensory stimuli, an experience, or a memory, it is understood in the context of your worldview. In other words, we do not see the world as it is; we see the world as we are.
The development of a worldview is usually an automatic and mostly unconscious process that can only be restructured with great intentional effort. This is why the journey of a True Pilgrim is so counterintuitive. It requires us to first go against, and later change, our worldview. We have to learn to not see the world as we are, but to see it as God does.
Jesus made great use of worldview challenging experiences and stories: the parable of the Good Samaritan, the parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard, the parable of the Prodigal Son, and the story of the woman anointing Jesus’ feet, are just a few examples where Jesus challenged the worldview of his listeners and tried to get them to see the world differently. Some people understood, but most just became angry at Jesus because they didn’t want to change how they looked at the world and at life.
Developing a Christian Worldview is an enormous part of becoming a True Pilgrim. It requires us to learn to love people we have never wanted to love, to sacrifice ourselves for the benefit of others we have not wanted to do anything for, and to live generously even though there are often times when we do not want to.
How do you do the work of forming a Christian worldview? Think about someone you dislike, something you do that you know is wrong, or some area in your life where you are selfish, self-absorbed, or short sighted. This can be VERY hard to do because we tend to look ourselves in a rather optimistic way. So, fight past that, think of a way to change that situation so that God will be pleased, and work on it.
This is just a single example, but it starts you down the True Pilgrim’s path of reforming your worldview.
Becoming A True Pilgrim 