Updated 3/2/12
I’ve spent the past few days thinking about Edgar Dale’s ‘Cone of Learning’ and what it might have to say to us about how we minister to college students.
In my second post on ‘the Cone’I focused on the high, or active, end of the cone and explored how short-term mission endeavors might be some of the most formative – albeit infrequent – experiences we provide students – based on Dale’s model.
In yesterday’s post I then suggested that some of our ‘less formative efforts’ – again, based on Dale’s model – might be made more formative with the introduction of some more active elements added to them – like discussion.
Today I’d like to end this thread of thought by suggesting that some of those ‘experiences’ that fall low on Dale’s ‘Cone’ might actually be those things that eventually provide some of the greatest opportunities for powerful, consistent and long-term growth!
Learning to do the simple, the mundane, the ordinary things of life… like reading, listening and looking – with an openness to, and an awareness of, God in our midst… is a way of understanding spiritual growth that does not fit easily into Dale’s ‘Cone.’
When we consider some of the spiritual disciplines that Jesus modeled for us in the stories of scripture we see the average become divine!
- Reading becomes meditation on, and study of, God’s Word
- Listening becomes prayer
- Looking becomes seeing the world with the eyes of God
Learning to experience God in the ordinary of life does not come naturally, nor is it as ‘exciting’ as the mountain-top or extra-ordinary experiences that come every now and then… but the kind of consistent, hearty fruit that hangs on the trees of the spiritually grounded, growing and strong!
Yes, there are definitely some things that we should take away from the ‘Cone of Learning,’ but we can never presume how, where, or through what God will choose to work!
What are your experiences with learning to experience God in the midst of the ‘ordinary’?
How can we help students to look for, and see the value in, life with God in the “ordinary” of everyday life?
Please take a moment to share your thoughts in the comment section below.
