W
hen I was a little kid , learning new things was a constant pastime — whether I wanted it to be or not . From figuring out how a trampoline bounced to watching the carbonation in soda fizz along the walls of a paper cup , I naturally examined the world around me to make sense of reality and how it related to me . Even when I did not know all the intricate inner workings of trampoline physics or the chemical makeup of Dr . Pepper , I pieced together the things I observed and tested , adding them to a framework , or lens , through which I understood and saw the world . In other words , I was “ worldview building .”
WORLDVIEW BUILDING
By Caleb R . Gordon
This idea of worldview building continued far past my early development . In the latter years of childhood , my process of figuring out the world around me translated into the study of history , math , English , science , and religion . Growing up with a homeschool education , my mother embedded in me the idea of “ connecting the dots ” in my studies at an early age . While at the time , it seemed to be just another time-consuming exercise preventing me from playing outside , I reminisce on these lessons as laying the groundwork for critical thinking and laying the pipeline of coherency to the house called reality in which I lived . Looking back , we were worldview building in that sunroom with three desks .
Fast forward to a Christian homeschool co-op in middle school . My experiences in learning began to take on new meaning through learning about the American legal system and freehanding the charted world from memory . Exercises in logic , rhetoric , and persuasive writing proved to be the form and syntax to express the language of critical thinking that had been ingrained into me so long ago . Reading the current issues raging in culture further bridged the seemingly distant reality of “ an ancient world in the past ” to a “ not so unfamiliar present day ” in which I lived .
Far past middle school , I kept worldview building . My academic career included attending a Christian high school , a real-life application exercise of my worldview . Surrounded by students who had never been taught to “ connect the dots ” in their subconscious worldview building , I appeared as a bit of an oddity with a different outlook on life . The fundamental difference between those students and me was that I had been taught the art of connecting numerous beliefs and values into a coherent system . When the Bible teacher pored over the Scriptures in Old and New Testament Survey courses , I saw a historical account of underlying unity and purpose that informed the way that I was supposed to live my life , view the real God who gave this life to me , and worship Him through it . Instead of seemingly unrelated stories of legend or mythology , I realized the Bible itself was a grand metanarrative of God revealing Himself and redeeming fallen humanity and that I played a role in this divine love story . Through classes in Understanding the Times
40 THE RENEWANATION REVIEW