I agree with the article in a general sense. But this sentence...
"Do not rely on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge the Lord."
I think the effort to separate understanding as something different from our ability to observe & experience reality is kinda the same problem that the "believe the science" crowd suffers from. I don't think God wants us to renounce the use of our God given faculties & resort to some sort of blind acceptance & I don't think there's any sort of natural struggle between acknowledgement of God & understanding. The word "acknowledge" actually undermines the implied separation. To acknowledge is to incorporate a thing into your own understanding.
The goal is to eliminate the internal division & align all parts of ourselves. There are no sacrifices, only things we want & costs to get there. There are also costs for choosing indulgence over higher aims. A healthy person makes decisions based on all of their best knowledge. The internal struggle is an imaginary form of self deception we use to pat ourselves on the back for doing the thing we really wanted anyway, & then often to justify indulgence as a periodic "reward" for all of our imaginary struggle. It's idiotic & self destructive.
Too often religious people choose to identify with their whims & attribute what they know is the better idea to some outside force. Thoughts are like the weather. You don't have to feel guilty about or identify with the dumb ones. Your understanding that they are dumb & wrong allows them to be easily dismissed for better ideas. People who pour energy into "why did I dare to have that thought," & beat themselves up about it, are actually only asking for more. We get more of what we focus on.
Jeff Swann
npub1aj…ftppj
2023-02-22 15:45:00
in reply to nevent1q…rmd4
Author Public Key
npub1ajv7m32k0cpgzha32qszsh304qusjvwwmavus0ttktzldms4xzusuftppjPublished at
2023-02-22 15:45:00Event JSON
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"content": "I agree with the article in a general sense. But this sentence...\n\n\"Do not rely on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge the Lord.\"\n\nI think the effort to separate understanding as something different from our ability to observe \u0026 experience reality is kinda the same problem that the \"believe the science\" crowd suffers from. I don't think God wants us to renounce the use of our God given faculties \u0026 resort to some sort of blind acceptance \u0026 I don't think there's any sort of natural struggle between acknowledgement of God \u0026 understanding. The word \"acknowledge\" actually undermines the implied separation. To acknowledge is to incorporate a thing into your own understanding.\n\nThe goal is to eliminate the internal division \u0026 align all parts of ourselves. There are no sacrifices, only things we want \u0026 costs to get there. There are also costs for choosing indulgence over higher aims. A healthy person makes decisions based on all of their best knowledge. The internal struggle is an imaginary form of self deception we use to pat ourselves on the back for doing the thing we really wanted anyway, \u0026 then often to justify indulgence as a periodic \"reward\" for all of our imaginary struggle. It's idiotic \u0026 self destructive.\n\nToo often religious people choose to identify with their whims \u0026 attribute what they know is the better idea to some outside force. Thoughts are like the weather. You don't have to feel guilty about or identify with the dumb ones. Your understanding that they are dumb \u0026 wrong allows them to be easily dismissed for better ideas. People who pour energy into \"why did I dare to have that thought,\" \u0026 beat themselves up about it, are actually only asking for more. We get more of what we focus on.",
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