You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

      But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name,

    will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

                                                  John 14.26

In the Goat Herder’s Guide we are told not lean upon our own understanding. To do this, to use our own judgment, will lead to our missing the opportunities that present themselves to us. As we learn to “walk in the spirit” we can only imagine what is next in our lives. Far too often what we do is that we baptize our perspective on life and call it Christianity. In my effort to fit the Gospel into my life, I simply find new justification for old behaviours and ways of thinking. Thus, nothing changes, and if nothing changes, then nothing changes.

We need a guide, we need something to help us to decide what is the next right step. It is admirable to have a final goal, a destination we keep in sight. It always comes down to what is the next right step. This is not to suggest that there is no place or role for our own imagination or judgement. Part of our having the nature of God is our ability to discern. We all carry a base understanding of what is right and wrong, what is beneficial or harmful. Yet, like a Michealangelo sculpture, we are works of love in progress. We lack the perspective and we lack the design. For this, we need to rely on the master artist.

In our world that stresses self-determination, of charting our own course, the idea that we do not know what we are to do is considered offensive. The idea that we follow a path charted by another is laughable. Undoubtedly, there are those that have charted their own course, and have become successful. I think these would be the exceptions as opposed to the norm. I feel fortunate that my journey began within the wreckage that addiction had made of my life. That starkness provided clarity. Also, I am grateful that I encountered a fellowship that offered a way out. A way out that required daily seeking of direction.

We have the Holy Spirt, the Advocate, the Councillor, to guide us in what is the next step. This is the master artist. I need to abandon my confidence in how I perceive the world as being the “correct” vision. I am grateful that far too often my sojourns of self-directed passion have ended in embarrassment. It keeps me humble. It keeps me more open and reliant to the leading of the Spirit.

There is a truth that lays behind what I am writing. We don’t know what we don’t know. I might have an idea as to what the final destination might be. As probably you do as well. The truth though is that I don’t know what the next step should be. These days, trials and missteps have led me to understand that I don’t know. There was a time that I did not know that I did not know. Now, I know that I don’t know.

This process continues all through life. U2 came out with the song, “I still haven't found what I am looking for.” I have seen Christian pundits criticize this song, saying that we need to have a place where we land, a truth we can stand upon. And we do, if our faith was simply a punishment avoidance strategy that would be enough. We are called to a journey, our own exodus. Our life in the Spirit, while being grounded in faith, is to remain a process of discovery. While we might find places to rest, we are always called to make the next step.

It remains a process that is led by the Spirit.

Anyway, that is my opinion