Hiking Boots and Worldviews
I was panicking on a cold Alaskan mountain.
My hiking boots had just soaked through. The temperature started to drop.
The realization sank in.
"What have I done?"
Boots
I was Caribou hunting in remote mountains east of Fairbanks. I was ill-equipped.
In planning for the trip, I had considered a few different hiking boots for the rugged Alaska terrain. It was unclear to me which boots were the best, so I chose some old cheap ones.
Big mistake.
On the first day, as we ascended the mountain, it rained. And then it rained some more. I felt my socks dampening. Then they saturated. As we climbed, the temperature cooled to near-freezing.
I would survive (and even get a Caribou), but the mist and showers would continue for the rest of the trip. My boots would never recover. I had to borrow from friends - socks, fire supplies (I ended up melting the boots trying to dry them out :/).
My boots looked good in theory from the comfort of my house. But they weren't ready to handle all that the real world threw at them. It was foolish and dangerous.
Worldview
Choosing a worldview is like choosing a hiking boot for an adventure. You think, you debate, and then you pick. Finally, you step out into the world to see how it works.
Choose well and you'll be ready for anything. Choose poorly and you'll find frustration and misery. You'll need to borrow from someone else.
What’s in a (Good) Worldview?
Oxford defines worldview as "a particular philosophy of life or conception of the world". Some get theirs from religion, philosophy, or their own brain. Many distract themselves so they never have to think about it.
What makes a good worldview? I think back to my own story and what I was looking for.
My searching boiled down to two questions:
What's true?
How do I live? (in light of what's true)
Some worldviews are better than others. Just like boots, some look cool and some are a little funky. For boots and worldviews, we need one that works. We need one that explains the world well and guides our lives.
If it can't do those things, we are in for discomfort and maybe even danger.
Many assume that if we simply walk away from God, then we don't have to worry about belief (or worldview) anymore.
But that's not how worldviews work. You don't abandon. You exchange. We've all got our mountain to climb, and barefoot is a choice (a very leaky one).
You can distract and ignore, but the worldview game is one that we all must play.
In my intro to this series, I mentioned a new worldview on the rise in America: the "nones" - call it atheism or agnosticism, the deconstructed or the deconverted.
In our next post, let’s put this view under the microscope.
Comment
How did you arrive at your own worldview?
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