Lean Not Unto Thine Own Understanding

‘Lean not unto thine own understanding’ has gradually become profound guidance for my mind over the passed seventy-three years.
The quotation is from Proverbs.



Our perfect presence in paradise went off the rails when we did that (leaned to our own understanding), and . . . we keep getting the same result low these many years since.



Mankind’s understanding is awesome here on the finite plane, and is growing every day.
The wise suggestion in Proverbs is perhaps personal one.

Our own understanding is valuable indeed, but it is not a valid source for pride.
That is why ‘pride goeth before a fall’.

A thoughtful mind might be swayed in favor of agnosticism,
But atheism is folly, to my mind.

Perhaps the great question we learned from the Nixon Presidency – “What did he know, and when did he know it?” is a light flickering against the wall of the cave.
One of our few recognized genii near his end of life mused, “We know less than one percent about anything.



So, then, what prevents one from simply experimenting with “going with the flow” and “playing it as it lays”?


Jesus said to Thomas, “Thou believest because thou has seen.
Blessed are they that believe, and have not seen.”



The contemporary earthly political version is “Trust, and verify.”



I now realize that my personal experiences and ideas may be interesting to some in a kind of voyeuristic way, but they actually have meaning only for me.
AND RIGHTLY SO!