Context.
Where does it fit? Why does it fit there? What came before it and what came after it? Is it all we need to know or is there more? Can I get away with my understanding of it as I look at it, or do I have to do some more work around it?
You see if I have to do more work then … well … who wants to put in the effort to do more work, when I can just coast off what I feel when I read it and where I am coming from in interpreting it.
Ah but the tragedy is that failure to put that extra effort in can lead to the wrong context, misunderstanding the content, completely missing the concepts and reaching the wrong conclusion. All because we didn’t take that time to consider the whole story.
That’s not just a useful skill for text, that’s a great skill to use in life. The beauty being, in a lot of cases you may never get all the story, but the extra work can dig up sufficient glimpses of the whole to appreciate things from a better perspective.
Something to consider.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 