Thinking Is Hard, but It Gets Easier

Just a short word of encouragement about learning from resources that are hard.  People will sometimes tell us that a book or DVD we suggested is too hard to understand.  It's not surprising that the material may be challenging, but I think most people are capable of learning the things we recommend if they take the time.  I truly think that much of the time it's not that the content is hard, it's that it's new categories and ideas that are unfamiliar, and that's hard.  And in our normal daily lives, we don't have to think in unfamiliar ways very often.

When I started grad school in Philosophy, believe me, it was hard.  I read things over and over.  But then after a while, I realized that the things that seemed hard were familiar and easy.  I got used to it, to the themes and terrain of the discipline.  And I looked back on things that seemed hard as elementary.  Now that I've been out of school for ten years, I kind of groan when I need to read something that is challenging because, once again, I'm not used to it .  It takes discipline and effort.

Theology and philosophy are important topics to learn how to think, how to think about God and the world.  But they're very useful tools and worth the effort.  And most people really are capable of learning the terrain, it's just unfamiliar and takes some extra time initially.  It gets easier and clearer, and the ideas and skills learned can help illuminate significant, fascinating things about God and Christianity.  You really can learn it.