email

Looking a Gift Horse in the Mouth

The title phrase is often cited as an admonition to not be so ungracious as to question a gift. However, while one may not examine a horse at the time it is given as a gift, it is prudent to assess the health before investing in the expense of hay to feed it. There are many different types of “gifts” that can be received that carry with them unappreciated consequences. For example, the “gift” of a car can carry with it the expenses of repairs and insurance. The “gift” of a pet can carry with it the obligation of caring, feeding, and sheltering it. Similarly, if one considers receiving a religious tradition from one’s parents, one wishes to be respectful and grateful, but still subject it to examination to see not only if it is true, but also how it can obligate, divert, or restrict.

One raised Muslim might want to question if keeping the five pillars really grants one access to paradise. One raised Buddhist or Hindu might want to question their certainty regarding reincarnation. One raised Christian might want to question if heaven is to be obtained by keeping sacraments. Questioning that with which one is raised can be difficult because it can place one in a position to be seen as being ungrateful or even hostile to one’s family or culture. For this reason open inquiry might not be possible.

Being able to get access to information is much easier today with the Internet. However, the problem of sifting through the many ways a religion can be presented to find what is true still remains difficult. Some use how they feel to assess truth. Others may use their own reason (like Thomas Jefferson who edited the bible to remove the supernatural). Still others may use analysis to consider which assertions might be plausible and gain or lose support over time. The idea of prayerfully appealing to God for help in recognizing truth can be a good idea because as poor a concept we might have of God, one might expect that he would assist those that seek him.

If one’s parents express hurt that their children might think they would be given that which is harmful, they might be asked to consider if what they had received from their own parents might have been incomplete, misunderstood, or distorted. Rather than presenting inquiry as a repudiation, it can be seen as moving further and using what has been given as a starting point. Gratitude can be expressed for giving one the advantage of a “head start”.

It is much easier to avoid inquiry both in terms of personal effort and the avoidance of family reaction. The usual reason to suffer such inconvenience is a strong desire to follow truth. Beside curiosity, one can seel to discover not only rewards or consequences after death, but those than may also apply before death. For example, in the 1960s may westerners traveled to India in an attempt to learn from Hinduism that which they felt Christianity was unable to provide. Some, not finding what they were looking for in India, returned home to either abandon their search or dig deeper into the Christianity that was so poorly presented and practiced at home.

Inherited traditions are not always true or useful. If there is little risk (such as which side of the dinner plate to put the fork), one might not want to risk upsetting others with a change. However, where the risk is higher (such as where one spends eternity), looking that “horse” in the mouth may be the only way to gain clarity.

Information about Christianity and the Christian life.