Knowledge

SEPT. 5, 1980, 11:14 AM
ON THE GROUND – IN THE AIR, HEADING EAST

You hear and see this titular word, o son, and you do not know what I shall say about it, but you feel certain that the meditation will be a genuine learning experience. You now “know”… have the knowledge… that following this simple ritual of paper and pen does put you in close touch with “the Mind that was in Christ.” This, of course is the mind that is still in Christ, that is in all who accept My power and Grace and Presence. For this time and for these pages your mind is in tune with My Mind and the knowledge I have is available to you. And, I allow you to write it down for future use.

Knowledge, like health, is an holistic phenomenon. There is physical knowledge, for the body knows how to function… though this, like other forms of knowledge is not learned equally by all bodies. Some have a true wisdom, and others just never learn to function well.

There is emotional knowledge, which is the “sense” of whether and the extent to which emotions should be expressed or controlled or inhibited. This is different from intellectual knowledge of emotions. It is the knowledge that the feeling part of yourself has and can apply again, some people exhibit considerable inherent knowledge about their emotional selves, and their emotions are a very happy and productive and satisfying aspect of life.

Social knowledge begins to develop quite early, as you can see in the development of Rivanna and Nessa. Social knowledge is that which makes relating to other people and to institutions possible. This, too, is gained in varying amounts and degrees throughout life. Each time you are in a new social situation you have the opportunity of applying knowledge gained previously and also of learning something partially or completely new.

When the term “knowledge” is used, most hearers would think of it in terms of intellectual knowledge… that learned about self, others, and the world by the cerebral part of the brain… the mind. You read, you hear, you see… and you learn about political candidates, and film stars… and rape victims, and forms of sport not yet possible. You use knowledge gained in the past as a means of understanding what you encounter today. You learn much that is soon forgotten by the conscious mind; yet an amazing amount can be recalled and utilized. Your role in this life is a relatively intellectual one in a culture that greatly values this form of knowledge. You have limitations, but still you have and shall gain much intellectual knowledge.

But, as you would suspect, o son, it is spiritual knowledge that completes and coordinates the holism of knowing. Spiritual knowledge involves knowing about other realms of being and of the many manifestations of spirit. You have started the “study” of the Gospels without any clear idea of what you shall do. Yet you “know”, both intellectually and spiritually, that the Spirit will guide this work, and it shall be both worthwhile and surprising. Intellectual and spiritual knowledge need not conflict or compete with each other. For you and for most people there is no more conflict than between different bits of intellectual knowledge, so why not avail yourself of all that there is? As with the other forms of knowledge there is a great range in capacity to develop and utilize spiritual knowledge. And, as with other forms, some have capacities they do not develop, while others go almost beyond capacities given.