A Mind Is Like A Parachute: It Works Best When Open!

[iheartjp2]

I've seen the saying before and it didn't strike me as odd until last year around this time.

Lets look at the scenario from a technical point of view. You're go sky-diving. You jump out of the plane and after falling for so long, you pull the string and release the parachute. Now, you're falling at a reduced speed because of the parachute above you and eventually you'll reach the ground. The experience from that point is basically over.

Now, similarically, how does this tie in? From the time that you get here, you're always trying to find out more about the world that you live in and from that point until you reach a certain point in mental maturation, your mind is pretty much, well, open, I guess. But what about reaching the ground. An open mind or an "open parachute" has worked for you up until that point, but what about now that you've reached "the ground" or in this case, come in contact with reality: the truth?

From what I can see, someone who's come in contact with the truth but are still trying to find some other reality are basically people who have "reached the ground" and are now trying in vain to inflate a parachute that helped them get to the ground safely.

In a particular scene of The Passion of the Christ, Pilate asks his wife, "What is truth? Do you know it when you hear it?" She responds, "Yes". He then asks, "How do you know the truth?" She tells him, "If you're not open to hear the truth, then no one can tell you what it is".

It is a teaching of the Church that one has to believe of their own accord with the gift of faith given by God in Jesus Christ totally in order to know and believe the truth, so in one sense, your mind has to be open to something: the truth. Christ gives us an image in Revelation of a man who stands at the door and knocks. There is no knob on the outside. One must let him in. It's therefore ironic that some people believe that in order to be truly "open-minded" that you have to accept any and everything as an equal and valid belief system, however, they're closing their minds to the truth. Christians who don't let their minds be conformed by the passing age but instead let their minds be renewed by the Spirit are always open to the truth, even if they struggle in faith to accept it.

Any thoughts?

[rollingcatholic]

It's good to have an open mind, but not so open that your brains fall out.

[BurkeFan]

Can one have an open mind about the goodness of having an open mind?

[LouisvilleFan]

I think it's funny that with an open mind I choose to be faithful to Catholic teaching... and somehow that makes me closed minded.

Like the time I went to a Unitarian church a few months ago with my cousin, where "anyone" is welcome, supposedly. So I asked her how many people there are pro-life? Voted for Bush? Aren't automatically against the Iraq War just because that's the stance Democrats are supposed to take?

To me, they didn't seem as open-minded and inclusive as they claimed to be.

[rollingcatholic]

[quote name='LouisvilleFan' post='1143053' date='Dec 15 2006, 01:18 PM']
I think it's funny that with an open mind I choose to be faithful to Catholic teaching... and somehow that makes me closed minded.

Like the time I went to a Unitarian church a few months ago with my cousin, where "anyone" is welcome, supposedly. So I asked her how many people there are pro-life? Voted for Bush? Aren't automatically against the Iraq War just because that's the stance Democrats are supposed to take?

To me, they didn't seem as open-minded and inclusive as they claimed to be.
[/quote]

I notice how many "open-minded" people are anything but.

[chickens4life]

Many people meet seem to think that in order for your mind to be open, it cannot be made-up.
That is one thing that really drives me crazy .

[beatty07]

Chesterton, pointing out that the purpose of the mind is to form conclusions, said it's like the mouth whose purpose is eating. It certainly must open, but only in order to close again on something solid.

[Groo the Wanderer]

A mind IS like a parachute: it doesn't work if it is packed correctly and can lead you to serious harm

[exquisitebones]

I like to thin i am fairly open minded... I am open to everyones opinions and i let people live how they would like to.

I am open to new things, which consiquently led me to catholicsm.

[avemaria40]

[quote name='exquisitebones' post='1146564' date='Dec 20 2006, 03:07 PM']
I like to thin i am fairly open minded... I am open to everyones opinions and i let people live how they would like to.

I am open to new things, which consiquently led me to catholicsm.
[/quote]

Me too. It was only by opening my mind and heart that I came to God through His Church. Also, I am always eager to try new things, even if they scare me, like taking the big step w/ one of my guy friends to become a couple, or planning a trip to Europe even though I've never been on a plane before and the idea terrifies me.

It's one thing to be open minded by experiencing new things and respecting opinions, even if don't agree with them. It's another thing to throw out your own values and beliefs for other people.

[Jabberwocky]

[quote name='RC _' post='1143058' date='Dec 15 2006, 01:27 PM']
I notice how many "open-minded" people are anything but.
[/quote]

I am editor for our school's literary magazine, and I was reading through some submissions once during class. One of the poems was very religious-themed and one of my friends (who is self-proclaimed open-minded liberal and a homosexual) read it and said, "You can't put this in the magazine."
"Why not?" I asked.
"Because it's about God," she said, "this is a public school."
I tried to explain to her the point of a public school is to be open to religious freedom, not to supress it. Since I wasn't getting through to her, I ended up saying something like, "Dearie, you think conservatives are so close-minded, but liberals are just as close-minded as you think they are..." and then after that she kind of saw what I was getting at.

[Akalyte]

Open minds often result in falling out of the brains.