Monday, February 20, 2017
So, if we don't understand anything, then what good can come from attempting to understand??
Don't many situations depend upon our understanding??
Doesn't clear understanding provide us with reason, purpose, motivation, and direction??
Well, God knows ...and He wants us to understand what He feels is vital for us to know.
And that vital piece of information is ...that He loves us.
Isn't that what healthy parents show their newborn baby from the onset of birth??
And even when our children get older, we can't tell them everything we've learned through life ...and furthermore, if we attempted to, they'd be overwhelmed and often wonder what all that we are saying has to do with their present concerns. Often they have to get through the moment before they understand it, as their thoughts are dominated by emotions which rule before reason can enter in. Mostly they need to just know we are there ...and that we continue to love them. And it is so valuable to us that they still come to us with their concerns, bringing love to full circle.
So, we realize that all of us understand to different degrees ...whether we are parents or children. And our degree of knowledge often is influenced by our focus ...or field of study.
But, be certain of the fact that the most intelligent and most renowned brain surgeon in the world doesn't understand the human brain like God does.
Isn't that what healthy parents show their newborn baby from the onset of birth??
And even when our children get older, we can't tell them everything we've learned through life ...and furthermore, if we attempted to, they'd be overwhelmed and often wonder what all that we are saying has to do with their present concerns. Often they have to get through the moment before they understand it, as their thoughts are dominated by emotions which rule before reason can enter in. Mostly they need to just know we are there ...and that we continue to love them. And it is so valuable to us that they still come to us with their concerns, bringing love to full circle.
So, we realize that all of us understand to different degrees ...whether we are parents or children. And our degree of knowledge often is influenced by our focus ...or field of study.
But, be certain of the fact that the most intelligent and most renowned brain surgeon in the world doesn't understand the human brain like God does.
So, we don't understand anything fully ...but God has created us with a degree of intelligence.
The critical moment becomes when we decide to act.
We can either use that knowledge correctly, which is basically called wisdom ...or we can misuse it, substitute what we don't know for knowing (which is only our claim), and we can permit this sway of thinking to lead us to our unknown detriment.
Let's look at an example of this by referring to the character of Gollum in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Those of you who've seen the movie, know of my reference. Those of you who have neither seen the movies, nor read the books, wouldn't understand if I went into detail, so I won't.
It is very long and detailed, and if I feel it's long ...then it's long, as many of you may feel I've already gone on too long myself. But, in short, two boys (looking not that much different than average boys) were fishing and enjoying one another's company.
Let me digress for a moment. Now, I've watched the TV show Bonanza, where the Cartwright boys could be fishing, or doing any number of things together ...and suddenly, out of what may appear as a mild misunderstanding, a brawl breaks out. The Cartwright boys would risk their life to defend their brother, but as the saying goes, "Boys will be boys!" Yet, though there'd be times they would fistfight one another, but they definitely have a measure of control. They would never let it go too far.
In The Lord of the Rings, one of the boys took it too far. And when people take things too far, the person themselves can see through it to remedy the situation by dealing with it, or others can assist in helping. (I guess we may have different versions of dealing with things. My parents may have suggested counting to ten ...and others may need much longer to settle down to reason, perhaps needing a little R & R. And I'm referring to rest & relaxation, not revenge & retribution. Repentance & restoration is more my idea of dealing with it.)
Yet, if a struggle driven by inner emotions is not dealt with ...and if it goes unchecked, the problem can grow beyond probable redirection. And that was the case of the boy in The Lord of the Rings ...who was later referred to as Gollum.
Yes, the struggle inside was outwardly evident. Most of my family felt sorry for Gollum ...seeing how he was struggling. We all hoped the healthier side within him would win out. (Well, one family member saw a spoiler, but still didn't spoil feeling sorry for him.) Watching some of his actions in the movie, we could see how Gollum made it difficult to thoroughly overlook the bad. Though compassion does not have to go hand-in-hand with trust. We don't have to trust someone to love them, though it helps.
And the movie industry very effectively often isolates one troublesome character ...and develops that person to bring us to deeper understanding of the problem. Similarly, in life we can also make attempts to isolate a person to give them proper, and hopefully effective treatment.
Yet, this is difficult if we have an entire community of Gollums ...with only their kind to feed off each other. If it gets out-of-hand, with too great of numbers, then instead of encouraging redirection ...the wrong direction is fueled within the person. The person joins a sort of mob mentality, and they appear not to be who they once were.
Often we think we should not sweat the small stuff ...but, snowflakes are small. Look how they can accumulate in only one night. What we often think is not a big deal, God knows different.
One the other hand, what we often think is a big deal ...God has already begun the process to fix the situation.
Sadly, the problem may get worse if we listen to each other. I've experienced a great change in what is considered good advice and moral judgment. There is also a widening gap with the claimed perspective that people say God would have.
But, we must listen to God.
And how is that best measured??
It has to align with what the Bible says. We are given the Word of God, and we were also given Jesus ...lovingly available for us to read about.
Listen to what Jesus said ...that He and the Father are One.
Simon & Garfunkel sang, "People hearing without listening ..."
Don't add to the sounds of silence ...and though I cannot be certain what they were specifically referring to, I am confident that to achieve the maximum good in this life we need to avoid being silent about Jesus.
Let's look at an example of this by referring to the character of Gollum in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Those of you who've seen the movie, know of my reference. Those of you who have neither seen the movies, nor read the books, wouldn't understand if I went into detail, so I won't.
It is very long and detailed, and if I feel it's long ...then it's long, as many of you may feel I've already gone on too long myself. But, in short, two boys (looking not that much different than average boys) were fishing and enjoying one another's company.
Let me digress for a moment. Now, I've watched the TV show Bonanza, where the Cartwright boys could be fishing, or doing any number of things together ...and suddenly, out of what may appear as a mild misunderstanding, a brawl breaks out. The Cartwright boys would risk their life to defend their brother, but as the saying goes, "Boys will be boys!" Yet, though there'd be times they would fistfight one another, but they definitely have a measure of control. They would never let it go too far.
In The Lord of the Rings, one of the boys took it too far. And when people take things too far, the person themselves can see through it to remedy the situation by dealing with it, or others can assist in helping. (I guess we may have different versions of dealing with things. My parents may have suggested counting to ten ...and others may need much longer to settle down to reason, perhaps needing a little R & R. And I'm referring to rest & relaxation, not revenge & retribution. Repentance & restoration is more my idea of dealing with it.)
Yet, if a struggle driven by inner emotions is not dealt with ...and if it goes unchecked, the problem can grow beyond probable redirection. And that was the case of the boy in The Lord of the Rings ...who was later referred to as Gollum.
Yes, the struggle inside was outwardly evident. Most of my family felt sorry for Gollum ...seeing how he was struggling. We all hoped the healthier side within him would win out. (Well, one family member saw a spoiler, but still didn't spoil feeling sorry for him.) Watching some of his actions in the movie, we could see how Gollum made it difficult to thoroughly overlook the bad. Though compassion does not have to go hand-in-hand with trust. We don't have to trust someone to love them, though it helps.
And the movie industry very effectively often isolates one troublesome character ...and develops that person to bring us to deeper understanding of the problem. Similarly, in life we can also make attempts to isolate a person to give them proper, and hopefully effective treatment.
Yet, this is difficult if we have an entire community of Gollums ...with only their kind to feed off each other. If it gets out-of-hand, with too great of numbers, then instead of encouraging redirection ...the wrong direction is fueled within the person. The person joins a sort of mob mentality, and they appear not to be who they once were.
Often we think we should not sweat the small stuff ...but, snowflakes are small. Look how they can accumulate in only one night. What we often think is not a big deal, God knows different.
One the other hand, what we often think is a big deal ...God has already begun the process to fix the situation.
Sadly, the problem may get worse if we listen to each other. I've experienced a great change in what is considered good advice and moral judgment. There is also a widening gap with the claimed perspective that people say God would have.
But, we must listen to God.
And how is that best measured??
It has to align with what the Bible says. We are given the Word of God, and we were also given Jesus ...lovingly available for us to read about.
Listen to what Jesus said ...that He and the Father are One.
Simon & Garfunkel sang, "People hearing without listening ..."
Don't add to the sounds of silence ...and though I cannot be certain what they were specifically referring to, I am confident that to achieve the maximum good in this life we need to avoid being silent about Jesus.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)