Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘knowledge’

I am still blind

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , on July 9, 2009| Leave a Comment »

John 9:25
He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

The man who had been born blind was healed by Jesus. Apparently, the man didn’t even know who Jesus was that day nor did he ask Jesus to heal him or give him sight. He was content. He had adapted to his circumstances.

It was Jesus who chose the man and the moment. And just like that, he stepped into a new world.

Afterward, he and his parents were all dragged into a trial of sorts before the Sanhedrin. The Pharisees tried to intimidate the man into admitting or accusing Jesus of sin. Instead, the man took a very pragmatic view. He had been born blind and now he could see. How could that miracle be classified as anything but good? (Of course, there was the additional controversy of Jesus having healed this man on the Sabbath.) In any event, the man was changed and he would not deny it. He knew he would never be the same.

Scientifically, anyone who gains any of the senses back goes through a very difficult time of integration. To suddenly see or hear is overwhelming to the brain. It must learn how to interpret all the new messages. This story implies that no such integration period was necessary. The miracle was complete. The man was not just healed physically but in totality. He was blind and then he could see (and understand).

The metaphor is simple. This verse is used often to describe a person’s transformation from unbelief to belief, from darkness to light.

For me, it is also about the “Aha” moment. The light bulb goes off and finally, I understand. I get it.

But I wonder in what areas I am still blind. Am I walking around, blind to the world around me? I live in a very insulated environment. I don’t see much suffering. I don’t see many who are hungry or dying. I don’t see bombs going off or guns pointed at me. I don’t see animals cruelly slaughtered for my food. I don’t see people who have lost their way.

Yes, I am still blind. It’s time for a miracle.

Read Full Post »

Open My Mind

Posted in Time Up to Pentecost, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 3, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Luke 24:45
Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.

Today, I reached the final verses of Luke, in my tortoise-like study of the scriptures. I have intentionally read only 8-16 verses per day, reviewing their intent and seeking an application for me that day. From these daily readings, I have asked the Lord to build these meditations.

But I realized today that we can read and read, we can listen to sermons and teachings, we can write and write about we read and hear or see, but none of it will touch the heart or light a way without the Lord’s opening of our minds for understanding.

In the same way that Jesus opened the eyes of the two disciples He encountered on the road to Emmaus, He opens the mind. It is a healing!

Acknowledging that the mind or the heart or the eyes need to be opened is part of the process. In John 5:6, Jesus asked the invalid who had been lying on a mat for a long time, “Do you want to be well?” I believe Jesus is asking me (and all of us), “Do you want to understand?” Do I really want my mind opened? I do.

Read Full Post »

On Perseverance 2

Posted in Fifty days with Jesus, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 4, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Sometimes we have to back into this process. What I mean is that there are times when circumstances drop into our lives and we are faced with learning perseverance the hard way. It can be done, but it’s not God’s best for us.

For instance, you might become ill with a serious disease that will take months or even years to battle. If you have not built on the phases Peter lays out in II Peter 1:5-7, you will probably discover that you must go back and pull them into the equation. If you want to live, you’ll do whatever it takes. And so, you endure. But as you endure, you discover you must control yourself, your anger, your frustrations. Careening emotions do not help the process. And then, you discover that the more you know about your disease and how others have handled it, the more knowledge you have, the more understanding you have of your circumstances, the stronger you feel. And then, you may find a desire to share that knowledge with others in the same situation. You may actually find that you feel better when you reach out beyond yourself and “do some good.” And finally, your faith in God is re-kindled!

And then, you head back up the chain and you are amazed to discover that you are stronger in each area and you are able to endure another day … another hour … another minute.

I discovered some of this backward/forward movement when Mike and I were in the adoption process for Lily. Being steadfast in our determination to adopt her was foisted upon us for a full two years. We did not go gently into this period of perseverance!

Perhaps it’s more accurate to call this process cyclical. It wasn’t a straight path from faith to virtue to knowledge to self-control to perseverance for me … it felt more like a circle and often there were times when I felt like I was on a race track going round and round and round with no progress; suddenly, a ramp would open up and we would be on another level. Yes, it was still going round and round but the view was different, the road was different, the goal was more clearly in sight, and the fire of hope was fanned into flame again.

Read Full Post »

On Self-Control 1

Posted in Fifty days with Jesus, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 28, 2008| Leave a Comment »

It’s interesting to me that self-control is the 4th leg of this journey for sustaining our faith over the long haul. This bears some comment in my mind that you must have your faith, then your virtue or ability to “do good” and then knowledge to understand the why of it all and only then, is true self-control possible.

This is a key for me right now, today. You see, I suffer terribly from lack of self-control … that is, self-control of the right type. Over the years, I have confused self-control with “control” in general. In other words, I try to control my environment and the people in my environment as a substitute for controlling myself. This is not God’s best plan for me (or for the poor souls that are entangled with me – e.g. my family).

I think things are getting better. One way I have learned to enter this process is by taking a “holy inventory” each day. During my devotion time, right after praising God for “who He is,” I speak the scripture outloud, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and and know my thoughts! And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” [Psalm 139:23-24] and as God reveals those moments in the past 24 hours that were displeasing to Him, that were sin, that were out of control, I ask for His forgiveness. This is a cleansing time allows me to move on.

Read Full Post »

On Knowledge 4

Posted in Fifty days with Jesus, tagged , , on October 22, 2008| Leave a Comment »

How we acquire knowledge is a mystery in itself. So often, we think of knowledge as being in the realm of the brain, but Ephesians 1:15-23 gives us some hints that knowledge of the things of God is much deeper. Here, Paul refers to the heart saying, “…I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened” and the implication is that the normal state of things may be closed eyes… closed heart. We cannot absorb knowledge with the eyes of our hearts closed.

As I sat here contemplating this idea, I saw a picture of an onion and how, when you cut into it, your eyes naturally tear… but only after going down into the deeper layers and the eyes must be open. Sometimes, we block out knowledge because we are afraid of being convicted or afraid of experiencing pain. But really, it may be just a new experience. Sometimes, when the eyes of the heart open, we see in a new way… we feel new feelings… we experience God in a way we have never experienced Him before. Can you see how this would help sustain our faith and virtue?

Read Full Post »

On Knowledge 3

Posted in Fifty days with Jesus, tagged , , , on October 21, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Pastor uses Colossians 2:1-3 as his companion scripture for today’s meditation and I have to say, it’s quite powerful. I have it underlined in my Bible, but I haven’t revisited this in awhile.

The first phrase that jumped out at me was, “the mystery of God” and then, how that mystery (which is Christ and what it meant to be Christ – i.e. the work of the Christ for humankind) is available to us. It’s God’s desire that we “get it!” … that we understand it. God wants us to understand the mystery. God wants us to “know.” And, as we understand the depth of that work for us and in us, then wisdom and knowledge are discovered.

I still maintain that wisdom is a discovery process. Sometimes, it takes time to understand how something works. Someone can give you a gift and you only understand some of its working parts. Think about something complex like a computer or software. There’s a process to learning how it works. The longer you work with it, the better you get… if you are persistent … if you are willing to learn… if you get help when you get stumped… if you read the manual! And then there’s the “aha!” moment.

Read Full Post »

On Knowledge 2

Posted in Fifty days with Jesus, tagged , , , , , , , on October 20, 2008| Leave a Comment »

One of my favorite discussions of wisdom is actually on a website that has nothing to do at all with scripture, but is, instead, about knowledge management and systems thinking. The particular article is called Data, Information, Knowledge, and Wisdom by Gene Belliner, Durval Castro, & Anthony Mills.

They divide the mind’s capabilities to handle “content” into five areas: Data, Information, Knowledge, Understanding, and Wisdom. They say the first four categories have to do with the “past,” that is, how the mind deals with what has been or what is known. Wisdom, on the other hand, deals with the future and interprets what has gone before in order to move ahead.

They actually chart out the five content areas:

  • Data: symbols
  • Information: data that are processed to be useful; provides answers to “who”, “what”, “where”, and “when” questions
  • Knowledge: application of data and information; answers “how” questions
  • Understanding: appreciation of “why”
  • Wisdom: evaluated understanding.

I find this a useful chart in thinking about II Peter 1:5-6. If these verses are talking about knowledge in this sense, it means working through the “how” of being or doing good… it’s the application of what it means to be a person of faith. However, if it is wisdom, then it’s more contemplative, comprehensive, and evaluative. It means we are taking the next step in choice. We have understanding to with the faith & virtue. It is a type of “revelation knowledge.”

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »