“Everyone hears only what he understands.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
It may be a higher level, but it is still within its own circle of thought, of time. It may go beyond the village, but there is still the other side of the mountain to climb. It may lead me out of the wilderness, but somehow that wilderness is still part of the garden.
I seek because without God life has little meaning. I seek Him out of sorrow and pain. I seek Him because I want peace. I seek Him because I desire something permanent and changeless. I seek Him because there is death and He is deathless. I seek Him for order, beauty, mercy, goodness and love, but mostly I seek Him for His understanding and wisdom.
Yes, I am beginning to understand…
That I do not wish to deceive myself again; that time and patience may be necessary for achieving my dreams; that I no longer desire to give my time and energy to simply earning a living, to the gathering of useless information, to the fire of belief, to superficial prayers and the worship of religion, to activities of reform, to the pursuit of ideals and virtues, or to any and all activities which give so little in return.
I want to listen to new ideas, to embrace new truths, to never again get entangled in words, to understand My own truth in the morning.
Yes, I am beginning to understand…
But not just the mere description of water which has no relevance to those who thirst. I want to understand the ways of a lovely, curving river which is always nourishing the earth and men. I want to understand my self-center as it moves through the fields of the known. I want to understand the self-forgetful majesty of unspoiled solitude. I want to understand that where heaven meets earth is where divinity meets humanity.
But am I really seeking something or am I seeking to be something? Am I really just waiting for a strong wind to direct me metaphorically from a lower level to a higher position? Or is my hope made up of a multitude of little things put together from roots that are shallow?
Yes, so far I understand…
Whether I have understood or not will show in my daily life.
Powerfully empowering !