In the spirit of the upcoming Year 12 Concert and the long tradition of ‘confessions’ I thought it was only right to share a confession with the audience of We Are.  

For half of Year 10, I walked around school with a stone in my shoe… Yes, an actual rock about the size of a 20c coin. Every, single, day, until the lockdown struck.  

Why did I do this? After reading a biography of William Wilberforce, one might say I was swept up in the motions and being overly ambitious, attempted to imitate the great Abolitionist himself. The stone in question actually took a while to find. The first stone I chose was too sharp and left me bleeding after the first day… then, after numerous scrapes and blisters, I would find a smooth round stone that wasn’t too sharp but still abnormally shaped enough to achieve the desired discomfort! 

However, eventually, that stone would wear a hole through the sole of my shoe, and I realised it wasn’t feasible to buy an extra pair of school shoes every few months, or so my dad told me…  

Looking back on those months and the process of choosing the right stone I am reminded of the old adage ‘to leave no stone unturned…’ 

The expression dates back to an ancient Greek legend about a general who buried his treasure under his tent after being defeated in battle. Those seeking his treasure consulted the Oracle of Delphi who advised them to move every stone or ‘leave no stone unturned’.  

Usually, this adage is applied to experiences, adventures or simply trying a variety of gelato flavours. Contrastingly I believe the best application is intellectually… As we traverse the ‘gardenplace’ of ideas that are scattered throughout the annals of history, we ought not to leave any stone unturned.  

As we turn over each stone, we ought to examine them under the scrupulous microscope of antiquity. Which ideas have withstood the fiery crucible of time, which ‘melts down all concealment’? Which worldviews have brought irrecoverable damage to society? Which themes are truly timeless? 😉 

We don’t even have to go as far as worldviews but even differing opinions; whether on politics, social issues, or more gelato flavours. What harm is there in exposing ourselves to alternative views in order to broaden our own grasp of reality? 

Likewise, the negative consequences of intellectual stubbornness, or rigidity, plague our collective history. Yet the positive consequences of being resolute in our values remain. If what we believe is THE truth then surely THE truth can withstand harsh scrutiny and enclaves of intellectual assault.  

The process of overturning the rocks which surround us requires such intellectual ferocity, which in the end rewards us with the utmost satisfaction, which William Lane Craig highlights:  

“Whenever you get the opportunity, to take one of those questions out of the question bag and pursue it into the ground until you come to intellectual satisfaction with it. And I can say from my own personal experience that this is one of the most spiritually exhilarating and healthy things that you can do…” 

For 15 years of my own life, I couldn’t shake off the haunting feeling that there might be some truth to Christianity. And when the time came to turn over that rock, I was terribly surprised to find an uncomfortable truth that I decided to place in my shoe.