REFLECTIONS

In Search of Understanding

Who could blame her. Home had never been a safe place for Dorothy. Her mother lived the unsettled life of a single mom. She issued invitations to a stream of men into their home in search of love and security for herself with no regard for the well-being of her daughter. So how was Dorothy supposed to view life when the actions of the one closest to her revealed so little concern? Dorothy trusted no one.

At school she stayed to herself, seldom talking with anyone. If Mother couldn’t love her, who could? Who would? But her classmates didn’t know the story. How could they know her perspective of life without going in search of understanding?

Dorothy is a fictional character in my mind. Yet she represents someone, perhaps almost everyone we ever meet. Something in their lives shapes the way they see the world and influences the way they choose to live in it. And from our vantage, we don’t understand theirs. Too often we don’t even try to.

Wisdom and understanding are as tightly linked as water and ice. If wisdom is knowledge appropriately applied to the circumstances, then understanding must be imbedded in the formula. One depends on the other, yet too often we pursue wisdom and exclude the quest for the understanding essential to it. Imagine how much wiser our decisions would be if we understood the Dorothys in our lives a little better. And just think of the difference it might make to them if we better understood their lives. But our opportunities don’t end there.

Did you ever wonder how much wiser our choices would be if we understood God a little better? Besides, Proverbs tells us that if we come to know the Holy One the search for understanding will come to an end.

You are the light of the world,

Richard +

www.reflectingthesavior.org.

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