To Will One Thing

Soren Kierkegaard, the Danish theologian and philosopher, is known as the father of existentialism. Many of his writings appeared as essays he called “Edifying Discourses.” Among them is “Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing,” in which he warns against double mindedness. A valid vocation, he held, is one that consistently consumes a person so that they are not distracted by other interests.

Kierkegaard quotes the Greek poet Archilochus who wrote, "The Fox knows many things, but the Hedgehog knows one big thing.”There are many different interpretations of this fable. The psychologist Phil Tetlock sees it as a way of understanding two diverse cognitive lifestyles. Foxes and Hedgehogs have different strategies for different problems. Foxes are comfortable with nuance, are always looking for new adventures, and can live with contradictions. Hedgehogs, on the other hand, focus on one consuming perspective. They reduce every problem to a single organizing principle. Kierkegaard believed that Hedgehogs had it right, but aren’t most of us are a combination of both Fox and Hedgehog?

A good friend has dedicated his scholarly life to focusing on the relationship between the Greek and Roman classics (principally Homer’s poetry) and the New Testament gospels. His world-class reputation demonstrates how the gospel writers often mimicked the Greeks. While his focus has been “to will one thing,” I have been consumed by a variety of vocational fascinations. My friend sees himself as a Hedgehog, and he sees me as a Fox. Both of us agree on the basic accuracy of these depictions. While he agrees with the Dane, I’m not so sure. Clearly, however, there is both Fox and Hedgehog in each of us. My Hedgehog friend has been an avid ice hockey player, and is now a gourmet cook.

In my Fox-like vocational history, as a teen I knew that I wanted to be a medical doctor. But then each summer I spent a marvelous week at a church youth conference, and was so taken by that experience that at 18 during my final year at the conference, I stepped forward and committed my life to the Christian ministry. That fall I began my higher education by attending a church college that most clearly resembled my youth conference experience. Seven years later I began my ministerial career.

While I have maintained my work with congregations for the ensuing half century, it took a long time to realize just where my commitment basically resided. The root of my vocation has been a lifetime affirming the teachings of Jesus. The church has been the fundamental vehicle adopted to live out that commitment. Given the vocational foundation in the life, teachings and call ofJesus. I am, however, primarily a Fox, but with a life also given “to will one thing.”
While I am partly Hedgehog, the Fox in me has sought to find and work out a variety of disciplines in addition to congregational ministry. But never out of focus is affirming Jesus’ prayer that the Kingdom may come on earth as it is in heaven.

With that commitment always central, let me briefly describe where this Fox has wandered.

Teaching has always been a fascination, beginning with teaching New Testament Greek to undergraduates during my seminary years. Since then I have taught part time at the Chicago Theological Seminary, The Disciples Seminary Foundation and the Lexington Theological Seminary, and full-time on the theological faculty of a seminary that is part of the University of Melbourne. (Australia)

The Fox in me has been invested in writing. I have produced ten books, basically on theology and the role of the church.

I have been a journalist publishing over 700 columns in a Missouri daily newspaper and over 200 columns during my retirement in Claremont, California. In addition, I have at times been a regular columnist for two magazines and have been published in a number of other journals.

I have also been involved working with various organizations on peace and justice issues such as “The Clergy Consultation Service on Problem Pregnancies.” I was the founder of “Disciples for Mission and Renewal,” and a founding member of “Disciples Justice Action Network.” (DJAN)

These issues have all been related to my commitment to the teachings of Jesus. Thus the Hedgehog part of me.

As a Fox, I have had a longtime goal to develop each year a new interest in a variety of unrelated matters. Just as examples:
I have attempted to learn several languages.

I became involved with Students for a Democratic Society.
I learned to play the flute, the recorder, the trumpet, the guitar, the violin, none of them well, but then, things worth doing may be worth doing poorly.

For two years I was the director of a not-for profit agency working with marginal students helping them find the economic resources that allowed them to stay in school. I testified before a Congressional committee on post-secondary education, and worked as a reviewer of FIPSE (The Fund For the Improvement ofPost Secondary Education) proposals.

I founded an organization concerning juveniles who had been caught in the adult criminal justice system.

I became an instrument-rated airplane pilot, and spent several years on a motorcycle, and \ summers sailing my sloop off the coast of Maine.

In my 80s and now 90s I have become a watercolor artist.

Now in 2021 I have yet to see what new matter will get the attention of this Fox.

To will one thing focuses on the Hedgehog in me. To be involved in a variety of other concerns reflects my nature as a Fox. What are you?