Sometimes a change of scenery reveals an obvious truth you didn’t notice before.
Mindy and I trade holidays between our families. This year was the Foxes’ turn for Christmas, which means I’ve been running in Western PA the past couple of days, desperately trying to reach my mileage goal before the year expires.
The recent burning in my lungs and legs has revealed something: I’m not used to hills! Obviously, South Carolina is flat compared to Pennsylvania, but as I huffed up the low-key mountain back to my in-laws’ house this week, I realized something—I knew my route was flat, but not that flat!
In the show Arrested Development, Buster Bluth gets involved in a twisted relationship with a woman his mother’s age who also shares his mother’s name. However, an off-chance encounter with a young telenovela star brings him to a startling realization:
This sort of rude awakening happen all the time. It can be startling for a Baptist to visit a Lutheran worship service—I knew I was Baptist, but not that Baptist! Or for a teacher to hear students tell their birth years—I knew I was old, but not that old! Or for an American to travel abroad—I knew I was American, but not that American!
Contact with something different draws out truths that were true about us all along. The literary term for this concept is juxtaposition. Authors place two characters beside one another for the sake of comparison and contrast all the time. We often learn more about people when placed in relief with one another than we do when surveyed on their own.
This is the value of diversity. When we regularly rub elbows with folks different from us, it rubs us in weird and unexpected places. That rub often brings a healthy new perspective.
This is why it’s so valuable for us to spend time with old books. One problem with living in 2023 is that we can only talk to people living in 2023. But old books are a convenient remedy to that. Crack open the cover of a classic, and you’ll be confronted with grating perspectives, odd plot-lines, and strange ideas.
And the longer you read, chances are the contrast between your own modern perspective and those of the past will bring about your own startling realization: “Oh my gosh. I’ve been dating an old lady.”
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Thanks to everyone who sent pictures and messages about our advent devotional Awaiting the Christ Child. It was so sweet to see pictures of your families, and I pray the little lessons enriched your holiday season. Can you believe we’ve made it a whole year? Fifty-two weeks of Hutch Posts—and sharing books and baking with all of you! Here’s to more in the new year!
—Chad & the Ashby Family