I guess it starts at birth,
A yearning that we must know.
It just seems to happen,
There’s no lever you have to throw.
I’ve been present at the moment
An infant gurgles its first “Mama” or “Daddy.”
The parents immediately begin to talk Ivy League,
“This child’s gifted, as you can clearly see!”
As we age and develop,
So does our understanding of what we come to know.
Its just part of the process,
Things change as we grow.
When I started school,
They dropped the “k’ from the word know.
Learning was no longer optional,
It was mandatory now. Consequences if you are slow.
As I listened, observed and learned,
To know developed a distinct edge.
Rivalry revealed its face,
Classmates became competitors separated by a wedge.
Fast-track, college-prep and advanced
Were wrapped around to know like a fence.
The few who earned access were the privileged,
The rest of us deemed dense.
For some, knowledge is a destination,
The arrival at the end of a journey, at a predetermined place.
Awarded the adoration of a celebrity
For the ones who win the race.
Another dimension of knowledge involves people.
Someone you meet who you would like to get to know.
Your desire is to become more familiar with them,
To determine if who they are is what they show.
For others, knowledge is a commodity,
Something you acquire and treat like a prized possession.
Egos bulge like waistlines,
For those who fall prey to this obsession.
One aspect of knowledge
Is related to supply and demand.
How much and what kind you have
Determines the job and salary you might command.
There’s a form of knowledge we call common,
Stuff that everybody’s supposed to know.
Like what the colors of traffic lights mean,
To be cautious, stop or go.
When you add an ‘n’ to know,
You’ve become someone who’s well known.
Strangers pursue you like a celebrity
When you’d prefer to be left alone.
I know this poem about knowledge,
To some, it might seem odd.
I’m prone to ponder stuff like this,
Placed in my heart by God.
In a society that claims to be the source of global wisdom,
The birthplace of all things cutting edge.
I wonder why so many people feel
Precariously perched out on a ledge?
Oh, how that final syllable
The ledge so easily escapes our attention.
Especially when we ‘re trying to impress somebody
In casual conversation, at a party, meeting or convention.
Like any other issue,
Where understanding cries to be heard.
I’ve taken this pondering about knowledge and have,
Become enlightened through God’s Word.
It’s when we say, “Now I have got the thing!”
“Now our striving can stop stewin!”
We’re instantly on the road,
To ignorance and ruin.
Some of us awaken from this deception,
“Our motives have been wrong,” we gasp!
He has created us such that,
“Our reach must exceed our grasp.”
Oh, unholy confusion with knowledge,
Man’s attempt to capture wisdom and be clever.
May we be guided by God’s Word,
“Begin to know Him now, and finish never.”
Notes:
1 Chambers, Oswald My Utmost For His Highest Journal – Selections For The Year, Barbour Publishing Inc., Grand Rapids, MI. Copyright © 1935 by Dodd, Mead, Company, Inc. Copyright renewed 1963 by Oswald Chambers Publication Association Ltd. May 2nd.
2 Chambers, Oswald My Utmost For His Highest Journal – Selections For The Year, Barbour Publishing Inc., Grand Rapids, MI. Copyright © 1935 by Dodd, Mead, Company, Inc. Copyright renewed 1963 by Oswald Chambers Publication Association Ltd. May 27th.
3 Chambers, Oswald My Utmost For His Highest Journal – Selections For The Year, Barbour Publishing Inc., Grand Rapids, MI. Copyright © 1935 by Dodd, Mead, Company, Inc. Copyright renewed 1963 by Oswald Chambers Publication Association Ltd. May 27th.
