I’m big on knowing. Knowing makes all the difference. Because… if you know, whether or not you ‘like’ the knowing, you have your basis to take your next step. I’ve always been high on the knowing rater, which can get in the way of faith. Faith requires you to act on what you may not know, but believe. And when the two clash… what’s your stand? I should probably add that it is my opinion that you are responsible for what you know… and what you believe. What you do with your responsibility relates to your character.
Actually… ‘pure’ knowing has no quality/value associated with it. Knowing is an ‘is’. Either you do or you don’t know. What you do with the knowledge or how you act on it begins to define the value. But, in its purest form it is neither good or bad, helpful or harmful, it simply… is. Faith is something you believe in/on and is unwavering but you likewise can never simply point to it. Knowing always rests on some visible, tangible evidence.
Knowing has the potential of being a building block, a part of your foundation. As a result, it can add further ‘structure’ to your faith. But faith really doesn’t need this because, like knowing, faith is an ‘is’. There is no ‘partial’ or ‘maybe’ faith. Faith is as strong as knowing. The similarities between faith and knowing are significant – you are responsible for both, it ultimately requires you to act in some fashion, it is an ‘is’.
However there is an enormous difference as well. Faith’s evidence is more spiritual and knowing’s evidence is more concrete. Faith is personal. Knowing is factual. But don’t ever dismiss knowing as unimportant to faith. Knowing supports faith. I believe that knowing adds substance to our faith. The point is that knowing, ‘adds’. It is not the basis for faith or it wouldn’t be faith.
Knowing has an important role in how we act. When we act on what we know then we share the truth we’ve discovered. But just like the description of the elephant supplied by 10 blind men…. there may be more than what we’ve discovered thus far. Sharing our knowing will expand our knowledge.
