Not knowing can feel unbearable

I’ve just posted this on Substack

I notice this theme often emerges with humans believing, I guess since the so-called Enlightenment, that they must understand, justify, and somehow win logical arguments in order to prove a point. I noticed it in a podcast this week when a politician was speaking from his heart about what needs to change, and the interviewer was demanding a rigorous academic justification of his position, and could not cope with not knowing, not getting clear answers to some of his questions. The politician probably needs to adjust some things about how he presents so he is not so readily dismissed as he was, but I really, really hope he doesn’t lose his convictions.

It can be the same for individuals; when a crisis or a challenge looms up there’s a reactive approach that tries desperately to understand why what is or is not happening. The mind feels the need to make sense, and it can feel unbearable not to know. Well, here’s a poem that might speak to you…

Humans believe they need to know

Living without, feels like a blow

A hammer strike that leaves us reeling

Not the happiness we want to be feeling

Instead of seeking from the heart

The mind requires a different start

It wants to know this and that and what and when

To see the proof, the pattern, the shape and then

It thinks this will provide the life we seek

It feels like strength, and yet it’s weak

Weak? If I want to prove my case

I’d say look around and see the mess

But someone then would argue back

And drag me down the knowledge track

I choose therefore to go with heart

Helping me with how to play my part

In service, doing what I can

Not trying a well crafted plan

Instead be present with what is here

And bring in love that is sincere