{"id":26138,"date":"2025-11-20T10:41:50","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T15:41:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=26138"},"modified":"2025-11-20T10:49:56","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T15:49:56","slug":"recognizing-our-biases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=26138","title":{"rendered":"Recognizing Our"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"You Are More by Tenth Avenue North with Lyrics in HD\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WhDrzTQ5rn0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Moving Beyond What We Already Know<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>Thursday, November 20, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Father Richard explains how learning to see beyond our biases is essential for the ongoing conversion of faith.&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Learning how to see our biases is a psychological exercise, but one with immediate theological and social <\/strong>i<strong>mplications. It demands self-knowledge and the crucial need to recognize (1) when we are in denial about our own shadow and capacity for illusion; (2) our capacity to project our own fears <\/strong>and <strong>shadows onto other people and groups; (3) our capacity to face and carry our own issues; and (4) the social, institutional, and political implications of not doing this work.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If some Christians think that this is mere psychology, then they surely need to know that Jesus himself was a consummate analyst of human nature and named many of the issues that we call today \u201cdenial,\u201d \u201cbias,\u201d \u201cprojection,\u201d and \u201cthe shadow self.\u201d [1]&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Brian McLaren describes why Jesus\u2019 teachings so effectively freed people from an over-attachment to their own way of seeing:<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jesus inspired and \u201cabducted\u201d people through immersive and imaginative experiences\u2014including parables and powerful metaphors, respectful conversations, encounters with \u201cthe other,\u201d field trips, and other forms of experiential learning. Following his example, we discover that it\u2019s usually a far more effective portal out of confirmation bias than purely intellectual arguments.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When you aggressively attack people\u2019s familiar ideas, they tend to respond defensively.<\/strong> They dig in their heels and become even more firmly attached to the very ideas that they need to be liberated from. The doorway out of confirmation bias is not argument but imagination.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>That\u2019s why Jesus, like other effective communicators, constantly told stories, s<\/strong>tories that grabbed people by the imagination and transported them into another imaginative world:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2026 there once was a woman who put some yeast into a huge batch of dough [Matthew 13:33]&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2026 there once was a man who had two sons [Luke 15:11]&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2026 this man was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho [Luke 10:30]&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2026 a woman once lost a coin [Luke 15:8] \u2026&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through these short \u201cimaginative vacations\u201d to another world, Jesus helped people see from a new vantage point. <strong>He used imagination to punch a tiny hole in their walls of confirmation bia<\/strong>s, and <strong>through that tiny hole, some new light could stream in and let them know of a bigger world beyond their walls\u2026.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[Jesus] didn\u2019t spend a lot of time repeating or refuting the false statements of his critics, and he didn\u2019t counterpunch when he was attacked or insulted, but instead, he used every criticism as an opportunity to restate, clarify, and illustrate his true statements. [2]&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Richard adds:&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s so hard to be vulnerable, to say to our neighbor, \u201cI don\u2019t know everything\u201d or to say to our soul, \u201cI don\u2019t know anything at all.\u201d Yet <strong>Jesus says the only people who can recognize and be ready for what he\u2019s talking about are the ones who come with the mind and heart of a child (see Matthew 18:3). <\/strong>We <strong>must never presume that we see \u201call\u201d or accurately. We must always be ready to see anew. [<\/strong>3]&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>______________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarah Young<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Jesus Calling: November 20<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I AM pleased with you, My child. <strong>Allow yourself to become fully aware of My pleasure shining upon you.<\/strong> <strong>You don&#8217;t have to perform well in order to receive My Love. In fact, a performance focus will pull you away from Me, toward some sort of Pharisaism<\/strong>. This can be a subtle form of idolatry: worshiping your own good works. It can also be a source of deep discouragement when your works don&#8217;t measure up to your expectations.<br>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<strong>Shift your focus from your performance to My radiant Presence. <\/strong>T<strong>he Light of My Love shines on<\/strong> <strong>you continually, regardless of your feelings or behavior.<\/strong> <strong>Your responsibility is to be receptive to this unconditional Love. T<\/strong>hankfulness and trust are your primary receptors. Thank Me for everything; trust in Me at all times. These simple disciplines will keep you open to My loving Presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>RELATED SCRIPTURE:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)<\/strong><br>8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith\u2014and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God\u2014 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Ephesians 3:16-19 (NIV)<\/strong><br>16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 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, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge\u2014that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Psalm 62:8 (NIV)<\/strong><br>8 Trust in him at all times, you people;<br>&nbsp; &nbsp; pour out your hearts to him,<br>&nbsp; &nbsp; for God is our refuge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Moving Beyond What We Already Know Thursday, November 20, 2025 Father Richard explains how learning to see beyond our biases is essential for the ongoing conversion of faith.&nbsp;&nbsp; Learning how to see our biases is a psychological exercise, but one with immediate theological and social implications. It demands self-knowledge and the crucial need to recognize [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26138"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26138"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26141,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26138\/revisions\/26141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}