Episode 32: Love & Wisdom Part II

This is Part II of Love & Wisdom, Episode 32. In the last episode we discovered that love and knowledge work in tandem. Reconciliation begins with an increase in love, which leads to the parties knowing each other better.

But the connection between love and knowledge goes beyond individual reconciliation. People who gain knowledge of other people also gain an expanded knowledge of Life.

When peacemakers reconcile relationships they deliver a bonus — people better understand Life. This is especially true when they reconcile a person’s relationship with God. When a person restores a loving relationship with God, they gain an ability to see reality at the deepest level possible.

Saint Bonaventure understood that when man accepts and then returns the love of Christ, he gains access to treasured wisdom. Saint Bonaventure wrote: “In Christ are contained all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge of the hidden God, and He (Christ) is the medium for this knowledge.”

In short, we can say that when peacemakers reconcile divine relationships, they expand mankind’s knowledge of Creation. The greatest love possible opens doors to the greatest knowledge possible.

When we reflect on these ideas, we arrive at a significant conclusion: True knowledge of man’s existence arises from the theological concept “God Is Love.” In this concept we find the well from which all knowledge flows.

What happens to those who cannot draw divine love from the well?

Those who are unable to draw close to God cannot know God. They are unable to know Life in its fullest measure. They lack the catalyst needed to spark wisdom. They suffer a deficit of awareness. When their divine relationship becomes impaired, their knowledge is also impaired.

This leads us to the cruel dilemma of atheism.

In order to know God, man must first love God. But atheists do not consider that God exists to be loved. They demand proof of existence. They demand an argument that proves God exists. However, the path to such certainty starts with love.

Atheists commit a critical error — they assume that they must know all about God before they can draw close to God. They block their own path to knowledge of God.

Then atheists claim that no one can know that God exists. They are snared by their own faulty logic. They assume knowing precedes loving. But the truth is the reverse: First they must love. Love is the key that opens the doors to wisdom.

The damage goes even further. Atheists’ unwillingness to draw close to God torpedoes their understanding of key principles of life and clouds their perception of reality. As a result, they suffer from a damaged worldview.

So we have to ask, how does an atheist worldview contribute to conflict?

In a previous episode, I noted that clashing worldviews generate conflict. People who hold different views of reality frequently clash. This is true with regard to the atheist worldview.

Atheists form a worldview that dictates alienation and separation from God. Unable and unwilling to love, they are barred from knowing God. They lock themselves out of the cosmic storehouse of wisdom. When love is missing, knowledge is blocked.

Their inaccurate perception of reality predisposes them to collisions with their fellow man. Lacking a proper chart of reality with which to navigate, they experience frequent crashes. They are involved in a high percentage of the conflicts peacemakers are called to resolve.

Today’s reflection leads us to a counter-intuitive conclusion: The differences in worldviews that bring about conflict stem from differences in the ability to love. Atheists do not suffer a knowledge deficit that can be treated with Apologetics; rather, they suffer a deficit of love.

Thus, we arrive at the overall conclusion that divine love is the elixir that will heal man. It is the elixir that allows man to attain the knowledge and wisdom that will guide him to the path that leads away from conflict, the path to the Peace of Christ.

Good day. May God bless you and bring you peace.