I found this poem a few minutes ago, and I thought you might find it as thought provoking as I did.
"Blinders"
(an insomnia-induced "rhyme")
When I leaned upon my "heritage" to think, to learn, and grow.
A peculiar perk of that cultural path & its legacy to me
was a pair of dulling blinders which made it hard to see
the narrowness of my thoughts and inflexible naiveté.
The infinite array of other ways, to think to learn and grow-
lost in the periphery of my blinders; I simply didn't know.
Unseen and undiscovered, I simply didn't know
of the different ways of thinking & different ways to grow.
As I continued along with my blinders on,
I began peeking side to side;
With curiosity I wanted to see
the "fuller, bigger picture", that my blinders tried to hide
My blinders built "privacy fences" limiting my line of sight
interfering with my reason and defining "wrong" and "right"...
Confined upon that narrow trail, with blinders on my face-
with tall fences on both sides -- what an awful place!
So I discarded my personal blinders and scaled the nearest fence
looking for a fuller picture -- one that made more sense.
It was a little overwhelming, the expansive open view-
so I had to rest & contemplate what I would choose to do.
Like Alice's adventure with the grinning Cheshire cat...
An infinite array of options - which would be my path?
With a Cheshire grin, I knew right then the direction I would go-
Ever-forward, ever-forward -- to think, to learn, and grow!
To Think, to Learn, and to Grow is not the "unforgiveable sin". To have a mind and not use it, is not a loyalty badge that all christians must wear with pride, or be stricken by God with a bolt of lightening.
Oliver Wendell Holmes once said "Mans mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimension".
ROCKHOUND