“Seek and ye shall find.”

That’s from the Gospel of Matthew 7:7 – often quoted in its truncated form. (The full verse is “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”) It’s most certainly about seeking truth, comfort, and direction.

But then I think about confirmation bias – the idea that when we look for something (in research, the news, etc.) we find what we expect. For example, if we’re physicists wondering if matter is a wave or a particle, we’ll find the kind of matter we’re testing for. If we’re looking for confirmation of our political viewpoint, we’ll find it. If we’re looking for a particular spiritual truth, like there’s one god, we’ll find all manner of affirmation.

So… can our seeking always lead to actual truth, or are we just confirming what we hope is true already?

This is on my mind for several reasons: first, it’s because I chose Exploration for our theme this month, with the idea that it is in summer that we in the Northern Hemisphere take advantage of warmer weather and a slower pace to explore the world – whether it’s our backyard, familiar haunts, or other places in the world. And I wonder sometimes if we can find something new even in the commonplace or familiar – I think we can, but it takes us looking and sensing in new ways.

Second, it’s on my mind because a lot of my summer will be spent researching and experimenting with worship for my doctoral project – which includes having to ask a lot of questions. I am keenly aware that it’s hard to ask questions about an experience, especially when folks know I’ll be asking them questions about their experience. I’m right now thinking a lot about how to ask these questions to get authentic responses which will guide my conclusions rather than asking leading questions to get the results I hope for. This, more than anything, might be the hardest part of this work. Wish me luck.

As we head into summer, I hope you set your intentions to do a little exploring and seeking, and may you find what you need.

Blessings,
Rev. Kimberley