3 Ways I Work with Ideas

Ideas are the lifeblood of thinking & writing.

But what do we do when we can’t think about everything?

Find out by watching our Truth in Two (full text below).

Support MarkEckel.com (here). Find the MarkEckel.com YouTube Channel (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), teaching at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis, and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video). Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here).

Pictures: Josh Collingwood, SnappyGoat

FULL TEXT

I once had a supervisor – my department head – who said of me,

“Mark has so many good ideas it is a shame that he will not be able to act on them all.”

Ever since his statement I have reminded myself of its wisdom: I can’t do it all. If you’re like me, not being able to address every concern, every cultural moment, is frustrating. There are so many ideas hitting my radar all at once. Simply stated, I cannot comment on everything. If I care about so many ideas, what do I do? I find others with whom I agree, while I do my work.

The Heterodox Academy, for example, is a group of professors, of which I am a member, that speaks on behalf of viewpoint diversity. Jonathan Haidt, who started Heterodox, writes, and speaks for free inquiry in the university.

Salvo magazine, an online Christian worldview platform, constantly points its readership to creation ordinances, embedded in the created cosmos. I and others write for this platform because we believe in its mission: “debunking cultural myths that have undercut human dignity.”

It is that human dignity which forms the basis for The School of Liberal Arts, in the university setting where I teach. I work and write in the world of liberal arts because I believe in the humanness of the humanities, foundational thinking coming from my Hebraic-Christian views of life. It is in the university where I can help students wrestle with great ideas.

Yes, I have so many ideas, that I cannot speak to all of them. But I have the unique opportunity to interact with young minds who have great ideas. I write and teach in the liberal arts because I believe our Comenius tagline: ideas change people, people change a culture. For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, president of the Comenius Institute, personally seeking truth in ideas wherever they are found.

 

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