A “man of many sides,” like a multi-faceted diamond, would be one way of describing Christopher Columbus. In grade school I learned he was the first to discover the Americas. Even then conclusions on Columbus were complex and clouded by the exploits of a certain Viking named Leif Ericson. Today many scholars credit the latter with being the first European to set foot in North America.
Depending on whom you’re talking to Columbus could be called a greedy land-grabber, a pioneer, or a saint. There are no shortages of “spins” on Columbus.
But aren’t we all kind of like a kaleidoscope? Depending on how we are turned we are seen differently, a blend of several “sides”?
The sociology tool called the “Johari window” depicts how we are viewed as four window panes. The first is the window that everyone sees through, including us. Pane two is the private-self that only we see. Pane three is the window only others see, which is oblivious to us. Pane four is the opaque pane. It’s that part of us we don’t see, nor do others.
Obviously this fourth part of us is known to God: “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar…you are familiar with all my ways” (Psalm 139:1-3).
It’s this part of us that psychologists would point to as the culprit in causing a lot of our hurts, habits and hang-ups, as the Christian 12 step group called “Celebrate Recovery” would describe them.
Most of us would admit we have opaque parts which we, or others, cannot comprehend. Most of us admit it’s a source of significant pain. That’s why we must frequently pray the prayer at the end of Psalm 139: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way [of] everlasting [life]” (verses 23-24).
