The Burden of Knowing
When is knowing too much too much?
Last night, I decided that, for this Lenten season, I would pick one book of the Bible to concentrate on, in this case Ecclesiastes. One chapter a night, that's the current plan. Considering how small Ecclesiastes is (12 chapters), that is certainly plenty of time to reflect and ruminate on the words. However, as I read the first chapter of the book, it really seemed to underscore personal beliefs that I tend to carry deep inside; all is vanity. The last verse of the first chapter, though, really stood out; "For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increases knowledge increases sorrow." (1:18).
So it begs the question; When is knowing too much too much?
This touched on so many things that have been on my mind of late, and the Ash Wednesday service seemed to be particularly inspiring as well. For though I attended the service before I read Ecclesiastes 1, the two just seemed to dovetail, especially in reflecting on the words of the pastors as the ash was applied, "remember that you are mortal". Knowledge for knowledge's sake is vanity. What purpose does it serve beyond giving its bearer a feeling of superiority over their peers? I heartily admit to being arrogant as a young man, perhaps pushing away many children my age because of the repellent nature of my being a "know-it-all". And what has it done for me? Aside from my writing and the teaching I do, it seems to instead be a burden. This is when knowing too much begins to hurt.
I can still look at the stars in the night sky and admire their beauty, but a voice in my head can't help but tell me how unreachable they are. Everyday, I go to work with the purpose of wanting to live a modest life, yet a voice in the back of my head keeps reminding me that, statistically speaking, I may have cleared the halfway point in my existence on this plane. There are times it is so very hard for me to make small talk without starting to sound, again, like a "know-it-all". I've always believed that knowledge is power, but too much power is a bad thing. Perhaps too much knowledge is a bad thing, perhaps as bad as the author of Ecclesiastes knew. There are times, though, when it certainly is a burden.
Last night, I decided that, for this Lenten season, I would pick one book of the Bible to concentrate on, in this case Ecclesiastes. One chapter a night, that's the current plan. Considering how small Ecclesiastes is (12 chapters), that is certainly plenty of time to reflect and ruminate on the words. However, as I read the first chapter of the book, it really seemed to underscore personal beliefs that I tend to carry deep inside; all is vanity. The last verse of the first chapter, though, really stood out; "For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increases knowledge increases sorrow." (1:18).
So it begs the question; When is knowing too much too much?
This touched on so many things that have been on my mind of late, and the Ash Wednesday service seemed to be particularly inspiring as well. For though I attended the service before I read Ecclesiastes 1, the two just seemed to dovetail, especially in reflecting on the words of the pastors as the ash was applied, "remember that you are mortal". Knowledge for knowledge's sake is vanity. What purpose does it serve beyond giving its bearer a feeling of superiority over their peers? I heartily admit to being arrogant as a young man, perhaps pushing away many children my age because of the repellent nature of my being a "know-it-all". And what has it done for me? Aside from my writing and the teaching I do, it seems to instead be a burden. This is when knowing too much begins to hurt.
I can still look at the stars in the night sky and admire their beauty, but a voice in my head can't help but tell me how unreachable they are. Everyday, I go to work with the purpose of wanting to live a modest life, yet a voice in the back of my head keeps reminding me that, statistically speaking, I may have cleared the halfway point in my existence on this plane. There are times it is so very hard for me to make small talk without starting to sound, again, like a "know-it-all". I've always believed that knowledge is power, but too much power is a bad thing. Perhaps too much knowledge is a bad thing, perhaps as bad as the author of Ecclesiastes knew. There are times, though, when it certainly is a burden.
posted by Robert at 5:27 AM
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