Cool Heads and Warm Hearts
Grateful to Scholars who invested in broadening my intellectual horizons
I’m thankful for good scholarship that opens up more horizons in understanding God’s truth revealed in the written Word. Tha danger of being overwhelmed with knowledge and becoming big headed is ever present. And yet the danger of being big hearted while dishonouring God-given wisdom is equally destructive. I’m just suddenly thankful for Christian scholars who combine both with head and heart emphasis with such grace. I think cool headed Christians with warm hearts are a great bunch to be with and learn from. In times as unsettled as today, I don’t mind meeting a few more of them and introducing them to others. — A Toast to Scholars! (Sivin Kit’’s Garden， April 2003)
Looking back 20 years, I noticed the younger Sivin was on a quest to discover himself. He didn’t want to be ‘boxed-in’ too soon. I’m glad he made the decisions he did at the time. I am who I am today as a result of those choices. Some may interpret the changes as shifts or replacements of one aspect of the self with another, similar to how leaves change with the seasons. There’s probably some of that, but I’d rather look at what happened up to today through a different lens. I compare it to how a tree trunk continues to expand and grow. This image, I believe, better expresses the reality of how my center has grown with additional layers of wisdom and experience. Which I am grateful to everyone who has invested in me and contributed to.
In some cases, when I read the 2003 blog post, it was men (yes, primarily men) who were my seminary teachers (and later became friends) with whom I later had the opportunity to work more closely as colleagues or fellow co-workers in some way. In other cases, I only knew them from books, but they were also a part of my growth. I come from a “tradition” that values context and the importance of being aware of one’s own social location and starting point. But I’m also concerned that we’ll lose sight of the dynamism that comes with meeting people who aren’t like us.
One of the best things that happened to the early missionaries who came to our shores was that their horizons were broadened. There were those who were stuck in their ways, but many of them learned from the locals and could not return home unchanged. Taking a slightly different approach, I would say that, while I value having confidence in our own thinking as Malaysians or Asians, it is a mistake to fall into the trap of parochial thinking and only thinking against outsiders. I’m more interested in how I can think outside of the boxes that both outsiders and insiders have imposed on ourselves.
So, in the end, the cool heads and warm hearts approach transcended the dangers of partisan theologizing and thinking in general for me then and now. But, 20 years later, I’d add that an authentic, humble, and wise way of thinking is about cherishing the friends who have accompanied us through the years. The word ‘friends’ is important. I was reminded the other day that I may treat someone as a friend, but they may not regard me as such.
Friendship must be mutual; it cannot be one-sided. There will be different seasons of friendship, and having true friends who walk alongside us through our ups and downs, and a variety of experiences that allows us to keep cool and stay warm, is truly a gift.
Today, I’d like to thank all the scholars (some of whom became friends — and now include women!) who have helped to shape me as a better person, pastor, theologian, and leader.
