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<\/a><\/p>\nTo say this material was \u201ctroublesome\u201d and created a \u201cbottleneck\u201d in my cranium would be a gross understatement. While reading this book, literal smoke was emitting from my ears. The sound of grinding mental cogs could be heard a few bistro tables away at my local coffeeshop.<\/p>\n
Melodramatic? Sure, perhaps a little bit, but let\u2019s not kid ourselves: these waters are deep and wide.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Deep and wide.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I just had an A-ha moment. Just right now. Allow me to attempt to flesh it out, in real time\u2026<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In Latin there\u2019s a concept known as \u201cSolvitur Ambulando\u201d \u2013 it\u2019s solved by walking.<\/em> Often when I encounter a troublesome concept, biblical passage, Kingdom principle, relational juggernaut, or a level of emotional stuckness; what Meyers and Land refer to as the \u201climinal state,\u201d I go for a WALK. It\u2019s remarkable how often something is Solvitur Ambulando; solved by walking.<\/p>\n The same is often true with \u201cSolvitur Per Scripturam\u201d \u2013 it\u2019s solved by writing<\/em>. As I typed the words \u201cDeep and wide\u201d a few moments ago, I sensed a cognitive shift. The intellectual waters ARE deep and wide, and I AM attempting to navigate them, let\u2019s say, in a small and rickety boat. I resonate with the learning process being described as \u201cstressful, debilitating, frustrating, and intensely emotional. They [students] reported that they were \u2018shocked,’ \u2018upset,’ \u2018hopeless,’ and \u2018very anxious\u2019\u201d (Land\/Meyers, Threshold Concepts in Practice, p. 4).<\/p>\n I\u2019ll bet those students felt like dummies too.<\/p>\n However, they acknowledged it as a \u201clearning process.\u201d They were cognitive of being in boat on waters that are indeed deep and wide, and that can be frightful, yet there is an understanding, albeit slight, that they are going somewhere<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cTrust the process.\u201d I think I heard that somewhere.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ambulando<\/em> it out. Scripturam<\/em> it out.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Encounters with threshold concepts can be scary or frightening (because the boat is small), but by its very nature it invites learners to engage with that which is believed to be troublesome (because the waters are deep and wide). But once you successfully navigate portions of these waters, our minds discover a portal, and are \u201copened up to a new and previously inaccessible way of thinking\u201d (Land\/Meyer, Overcoming Barriers to Student Understanding, p. 3).<\/p>\n I now realize that I have been having these kinds of \u201ca-ha\u201d moments for years. I have been walking and writing through these kinds of \u201cthreshold concept portals,\u201d perhaps unknowingly. I preach, teach, and write for a living, and, of course, because of God\u2019s sovereign calling upon my life. I do this on a consistent, weekly basis. Each Tuesday, I sit at my desk with a blank word processor document open. OK, actually I have a standing desk, because it\u2019s been said that \u201csitting is the new smoking.\u201d Regardless, I often stare at that blank document feeling stressed, debilitated, frustrated, and intensely emotional. Sometimes I become upset, hopeless, and very anxious in trying to \u201crightly divide the word of truth\u201d (2 Timothy 2:15).<\/p>\n I get it. I feel it.<\/strong><\/p>\n In that liminal space I resort to walking \u2013 it\u2019s amazing how many big conceptual nuts have been cracked as I walk. Then I start writing. Again, it\u2019s amazing to consider the various biblical passages and theological waters that have been navigated in the \u201cprocess\u201d of writing.<\/p>\n The Bible, and biblical theology have several Threshold Concepts that I simply cannot unsee. For example: The Kingdom of God. The Exodus. Restoration. The Blood and Redemption. Once I discovered these portals; doorways into Scripture, my understanding expanded immensely and has provided a richer context for much, if not all, of my teaching and preaching.<\/p>\n And, I trust, it has enriched the learning experience of those I lead. I desire for my congregation to have \u201ca-ha\u201d moments as well. This can be achieved as I listen to their struggles. Many people feel frustrated or isolated in their understanding of Kingdom life and concepts. I\u2019m not alone in feeling like a dummy. I must be patient with myself, as well as with others under my pastoral care and instruction. This is a messy process; rarely is it linear. The waters are deep and wide, and the boat is small, as one grapples with threshold concepts.<\/p>\n The prayer of the Apostle Paul to the church of Ephesus highlights both the power and the promise of understanding as one wrestle with threshold concepts. Perhaps the most profound of all threshold concepts:\u00a0 the love of our God.<\/p>\n \u201cI pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord\u2019s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge\u2014that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do <\/em>immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.\u201d <\/em>Ephesians 3:16-21 NIV<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \n Oh, now I get it.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I considered titling this blog post \u201cThreshold Concepts for Dummies\u201d because after reading these two extensive and comprehensive books I felt like, well\u2026a dummy. I\u2019m not being self-deprecating; I honestly felt dumb. I\u2019ve been reading, thinking, studying, and pontificating large biblical\/theological concepts for many, many years, and yet I have not been exposed to this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":172,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2310],"tags":[2541],"class_list":["post-30388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership-3","tag-meyer-land-dlgp02-threshold-concepts","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/172"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30388"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30388\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30393,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30388\/revisions\/30393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n