Fourth Position: Which Way Do You Lean?

People often ask me why I converted to the Episcopal Church, and my answer is super boring: the three sources of authority. Scripture, Tradition, and Reason—often referred to as the “three-legged stool.” After being formed in Christian traditions that leaned only on one or two of these “legs,” I found my spiritual home: a faith that puts equal weight on what God says to us (Scripture), what God has said through other faithful people throughout the ages (Tradition), and what God is saying through faithful people today (Reason).

These legs aren’t easy to balance on equally because they can sometimes be at odds with each other. Regardless of your social, political, or theological leanings, you will occasionally find contradictions in each of these “legs.” That conflict can cause us to lean more on the leg that’s easier or more comfortable or that just “feels better,” rather than working to stand firmly and equally on all of them. 

It reminds me of how a ballerina stands in 4th position. I’ve often suggested that dancers imagine themselves as an upside-down letter Y, putting equal weight on both legs. But it’s harder than you think to truly center yourself between two somewhat distant points of balance. Dancers can find themselves leaning more on the front leg, or the back leg, and this actually throws them off when they then try to dance. 

Like a dancer in an imbalanced 4th position, leaning too much only on what’s easy and comfortable might feel good, but it will ultimately throw you off.

In a time when algorithms suck us into echo chambers and “free speech” delivers rampant misinformation, it’s so important that we’re attentive to the sources of authority in our own lives. What are the “legs” you stand on? Which political, spiritual, business, and media voices do you pay attention to? Do you prefer to comfortably lean only one way, even if you know it’s biased? What sources of authority to you seek? Tell me more in the comments!