I've spent a lot of the day on European motorways. Lots of slow traffic but I was happy anyway - entirely because it's very different from what I normally get up to. A change is as good as a rest, they say, and I'm having both. It must be to do with perspective - everything expends and normal concerns are enveloped by something much bigger.
Post modern philosophy maintains that there's no view from nowhere; everyone has, literally a 'point of view' from which they see things, and no one can be neutral. This idea sits pretty comfortably with me but there are those for whom this has troubling implications for biblical interpretation. If there's no neutrality, do we all see a 'different truth' therein?
An interesting anecdote I heard was of a lady who went to a bible study on the book of Ruth. She was confidently told by the other members (all seasoned bible readers) that this book of the bible was about 'the Kinsman Redeemer'. This is true, objectively - Boaz, who married Ruth, was a 'type' of the Christ, who is human like us (kinsman) and our divine redeemer. But this lady was struggling with things at the time, struggling but pushing on through. She read Ruth and said 'I thought it was about a woman who overcame obstacles and eventually triumphed in her life.' Well, exactly.
We all have a view point. Even if it's from a traffic jam, it's bound to be illuminating.
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