The Sage Observer

Knowledge

It seems to me that all we really know about anything is what we have seen, heard, read, felt, or been told by someone else, i.e. what we have experienced and/or studied. Even then, we still don’t know it all. Only God knows it all. There always remains something else for us to learn which is why we should never cease to keep an open mind.

On July 25, 2013, in my blog, I published the story of the Six Blind Men as it portrays the essence of many of the opinions we form in our deliberations today. Many of you have seen this before, but many have not. I think the lesson is worth the reading:

John Godfrey Saxe's (1816-1887) version of the famous Indian legend,

There is an old, old story of long, long ago of the blind men and the elephant, you know

It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.

The First approach'd the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
"God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!"

The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, -"Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 'tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!"

The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a snake!"

The Fourth reached out his eager hand,
And felt about the knee.
"What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain," quoth he,
"'Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!"

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: "E'en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!"

The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Then, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a rope!"

And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!

MORAL.

So oft in theologic political wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!

I think this says it all—a potent message to all of us. What do you think?

Ronald Miller

www.sageobserver.blogspot.com