Surrender

Have any of you guys ever really learned something? I mean, have you ever stumbled upon a notion that irritated you tremendously, and yet demanded your consideration? Have you ever faced the moral dilemma of choosing between your pride and the truth? Have you ever, after experiencing such enlightenment, faced the sobering reality that you will never really be accepted by those who love the lie more than anything--and still chosen wisely? Here's what I've been learning in the last few weeks: All knowledge is a gift from God. To attempt to find anything on my own is worse than vanity, it's dangerous. Faith comes before knowledge-for how can you know what you don't already believe (trust) to be true? It's easy enough to recognize this. What's harder is to decide to place your faith (basis of decisions) in the one who is unseen-like love, and joy, and gravity, and everything else by which we measure our lives. Perhaps this inquiry is a response, in part, to the recent showerings of praise of our respective intellectual gifts. I use the word "gifts" deliberately. Would you, after all, commend yourself for your beautiful eyes, while trying your best not to scorn those with simple dark brown or dull blue? (Anybody understand the danger of false humility?) The point is, let's keep it real: The talents we now rejoice in could be removed tomorrow. I challenge you to ask yourselves as I often must, if tomorrow is the day of my (intellectual or otherwise) demise, what will I be?