Unlearning

When I added the second “I” (Instrument) to my Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) certificate a few years ago, the process of learning to trust—literally with my life and that of a student—six little instruments when I couldn’t see even the propeller in front of me required unlearning to trust something I’d always relied on. Namely, my kinesthetic senses.

 What felt like up, down, right, and left (input I’d always gotten from my eyes and inner-ears) had to be ignored, because when things got real they were unreliable. In fact, they lied.

In this week’s Epistle, St Paul uses six little monosyllabic words to describe something very similar.

 Learning to walk by faith—even faith the size of a mustard seed—requires us to unlearn walking by sight.