Education is the atmosphere we breathe, the envelope of wonder that surrounds us, held by the gravity of our daily habits. ~ Ann Voskamp of A Holy Experience
For in Him we live and move and have our being. ~ Acts 17.28
And daub their natural faces unaware
More and more, from the first similitude.
~Elizabeth Barret Browning
We can begin by regularly reminding ourselves that the God who saves us is the God who made us and all things, that our message of redemption only makes sense in the context of the bigger story about creation. Our God cares about all aspects of our lives, and thus the renewing of our minds is as needful as the cleansing of our hearts.
Loving God and neighbor requires knowledge of the truth about God and the truth about the many challenges and opportunities of human experience in the world God has made.
Oh. There are two different words used in this first chapter of II Peter.
The first one, the word that gives us grace, peace, everything we need, is epignosis (precise/correct knowledge) which is related to epiginosko (to become thoroughly acquainted with, to know thoroughly, to perceive who a person is).
Relationship knowledge.
The second word, the word that Peter urges us to add to our faith along with goodness, self-control, perseverance godliness, brotherly kindness and love? This word is gnosis (general intelligence, understanding, implying science).
Creation knowledge.
Aha.
Once again, all is related, all is woven together into one beautiful, seamless fabric.
Learning, gaining knowledge, is a large part of how we weave the various parts of our lives together into a seamless, sacred whole. Not something to be relegated to school-type hours.
We seek for epignosis, to become thoroughly acquainted with God, so that we may have everything we need for life and godliness.
We seek for gnosis, general understanding about the world He has created, so that we may keep from being ineffective and unproductive in our epignosis of our Lord Jesus Christ.
May we remain in awe of God and retain our sense of wonder in the world (including its creatures, human and otherwise) He has created. May we continue to pursue knowledge in every moment of our daily lives and turn that knowledge into praise and thanksgiving, into loving of all those around us.
art credit: Elizabeth Barrett Browning; Christ in the House of Martha and Mary by Johannes Vermeer