Seeing Gray

I'm reading a book right now called "Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White" by Adam Hamilton who is the Senior Pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City. Although I'm only about 1/3 of the way through it, I'm amazed how much I have learned about me.

For instance, if someone were to ask me are you a liberal or a conservative I would answer 'YES' and here's what I mean. In the book, Hamilton says to one person you are a liberal, but to another, you are a conservative. Here's a personal example. When it comes to the topic of abortion, I am against it, which makes me a social conservative. But when it comes to the topic of the death penalty (corporate punishment) I am against it, making me a social liberal. My take on both is that killing is killing and not for us to do. So, where does that put me? Right in the middle of the gray on two black and white topics. True, this was an example on two social topics, but the same can hold true on fiscal topics as well.

By reading this book, I have come to understand why it's a good thing to expand our thinking to see both sides of an argument. I just finished a Master's Degree from a somewhat moderate United Methodist College, with my teachers on both sides of the fence (which was kind of weird), and students from all over the country (the program was online). Talk about different viewpoints of the same subject matter. Yes, the discussions got somewhat heated but in the end we all could see and appreciate the other person's point of view, which I believe helps us shape our own thought processes.