{"id":41454,"date":"2025-04-03T09:52:07","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T16:52:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=41454"},"modified":"2025-04-03T09:54:07","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T16:54:07","slug":"seeing-through-others-eyes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/seeing-through-others-eyes\/","title":{"rendered":"Seeing Through Others Eyes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The French poet Marcel Proust is credited with the paraphrased quote \u201cThe real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes<\/em>.\u201d This loose paraphrase is from The Prisoner, <\/em>published in 1923, and is taken from volume five of his seven-volume work, Remembrance of Things Past<\/em>. The original statement is even more impactful than the paraphrase. \u201cThe only true voyage of discovery\u2026would be not to visit strange lands but to possess other eyes, to behold the universe through the eyes of another, of a hundred others, to behold the hundreds of universes that each of them beholds.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This doctoral journey feels much like the \u2018voyage of discovery\u2019 that Proust refers to, where one visits unfamiliar concepts and is allowed to view them through the eyes of others. \u00a0In doing so, learning how that person’s eyes perceive the universe. Your Brain at Work<\/em>, authored by Dr. David Rock, is one such opportunity. Through his eyes comes a new perspective on how our Prefrontal Cortex consumes limited resources of glucose, practical steps for getting \u2018unstuck\u2019 from an impasse, and our declining ability to suppress thought patterns become clear and concise. The practical steps for improvement, accompanied by his technical information around improvements in thinking and emotional engagements, rival those of Eve Poole\u2019s Leadersmithing.[2]<\/a><\/em> Yet it is two specific concepts that beckon a focused look. First is Rock’s research on ‘Away \/Toward’ in connection with who Christ is calling us to be. The second is SCARF and how church congregants engage with change and its impact on my NPO.<\/p>\n

Away \/ Toward
\n<\/strong>Rock builds on previous work around the Limbic System and humanity’s general desire to be happy and stay alive. Quoting Dr. Evian Gordon, he explains that we subconsciously strive to \u201cminimize danger and maximize reward\u201d by avoiding anxiety, sadness, and fear, and that we naturally seek to move towards happiness and contentment.[3]<\/a> While the subconscious desire exists, the reality that much of humanity nonetheless struggles with anxiety is equally observable.[4]<\/a> Christ was aware of the toxic effects of anxiety and our inability to avoid it. He gives emphatic instructions throughout the New Testament for how we should interact with it. \u201cDo not be anxious about anything\u2026\u201d[5]<\/a> \u201cCast all your anxiety on Him\u2026\u201d[6]<\/a> Christ cares for you more than the birds of the air, \u201cTherefore do not be anxious about tomorrow\u2026\u201d[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

So why did God, in his infinite wisdom, give us an unavoidable \u201caway\u201d relationship with anxiety? He knew it would be toxic for us and instilled in us an innate desire to avoid it, but also provided instructions on how to handle it. He knew we would inevitably become entangled with it. Personally, I think he allows us anxiety, and an unavoidable draw in that direction, so we can appreciate the \u2018Towards\u2019, specifically in the direction of the Fruits of the Spirit \u2013 Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, and Self-Control.[8]<\/a> Without the ugly toxicity of anxiety, there would be no beauty in the \u2018Towards\u2019. There would be no benefit in its existence and nothing special about its presence. Yet I struggle with the reality that Rock points out regarding humanity’s predisposition to gravitate towards the things represented in \u2018Away\u2019 and our struggle to move in the direction of the \u2018Towards\u2019.[9]<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0As followers of Christ, we are called to be different. We are called in Christ to have a predisposition in the direction of the Fruit of the Spirit.<\/p>\n

SCARF
\n<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0When considering Rock\u2019s work and my NPO, it’s clear that the local church has a facility that wider sections of the community could utilize<\/em>; it\u2019s easy to see how the congregation can effortlessly slip into a posture of fear. They perceive a plethora of threats that encompass the full breadth of Rock\u2019s SCARF acronym (Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness, and Fairness).[10]<\/a> \u00a0<\/strong>Specifically, a congregation anchors around the concept of Certainty, wanting a guarantee that everything will work out fairly. In doing so, forgetting that Christ does not give such a guarantee, and neither can I.[11]<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>I am thankful for Marcel Proust\u2019s insight into a true voyage. Unless we can see outside of our current vision, it is difficult, if not impossible, to have true understanding. Seeing a glimpse of how our brains work and how we engage with threats and rewards through Rock\u2019s eyes is valuable, and examining his work through the eyes of Christ only enhances the discovery.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Originally translated to English by C.K. Moncrief.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Eve Poole, Leadersmithing: Revealing the Trade Secrets of Leadership<\/em> (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2017), 74\u201375.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> David Rock, Your Brain at Work, Revised and Updated: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long<\/em>, Updated edition (New York, NY: Harper Business, 2020). 105.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Edwin H. Friedman and Peter Steinke, A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix (10th Anniversary, Revised Edition)<\/em> (La Vergne, UNITED STATES: Church Publishing, Incorporated, 2017).<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Philippians 4:6 ESV<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> 1 Peter 5:7 ESV<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Matthew 6:34 ESV<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Galatians 5:22-23<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Rock, Your Brain at Work, Revised and Updated<\/em>. 107, 117.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> Rock.198<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> John 16:33 ESV<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The French poet Marcel Proust is credited with the paraphrased quote \u201cThe real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.\u201d This loose paraphrase is from The Prisoner, published in 1923, and is taken from volume five of his seven-volume work, Remembrance of Things Past. The original statement is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":222,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[1],"tags":[2681,3397],"class_list":["post-41454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-rock","tag-dlgp04","cohort-dlgp04"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41454","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\/222"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41454"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41458,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41454\/revisions\/41458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}