SAME IMAGES DIFFERENT LENSES

It’s a familiar anecdote. A reporter sees three men laying bricks. He asks the first, “What are you doing?” Annoyed, the man answers, “I’m laying bricks!” He walks over to the second bricklayer and asks the same question. The second says, “I’m earning money.” He asks the third bricklayer the same question. The third looks up, smiles, and says, “I’m building a cathedral.”

That anecdote frequently reflects a value judgment that dismisses the first two answers in favor of the third. Our attitude matters. The reality, however, is that we each have different lenses through which we view the world. Not just literal, financial, and aspirational lenses, as in the story. But each of us has been shaped by—or has embraced—a different worldview. So how can we pause, listen carefully, and understand more deeply how others see the world? Particularly when they see it differently than we do.

During the next few months, that’s our focus. For instance, Jews, Buddhists, and Hindus all have strong reactions to the image of the swastika. But how can we come to understand the depth of those very different feelings? Or what has shaped faith-filled individuals who radically disagree about reproductive rights? Why do White Christians and Black Christians see how Jesus is portrayed as important? In a conflicted United States, how do religious worldviews shape how people of faith engage in the world differently? For people in the public square weary of hearing either church bells or the Muslim call to prayer, how can they come to a deeper understanding of a worldview different from their own? How do different approaches to music create unnecessary divisiveness, and why do we need to recognize this?

Huge chasms sometimes exist between well-intentioned people of different perspectives. Join us this semester—in conversations, dialogues, lectures, films, and art exhibits—as we try to look more carefully through lenses different from our own.

Craig and Kelly

JUSTINE L. NUSBAUM LECTURE

Thursday, April 6 | 7-8 PM BLOCKER HALL AUDITORIUM