Wissenschaft/Kenntnis

Oh you guys! I'm learning some great stuff this week. 

 God has really lined things up for me in a special way. I came across some great podcasts a couple weeks ago and have been listening to them when I get the chance. They are about an hour long so when Liam is awake it just doesn't work. Through one of those podcasts I learned of a book called Boys Adrift. I ordered it right away. 

Then I was talking to my Mom and she told me of a book she was going through. I thought it was exactly what I needed so I ordered that one too. Gotta love Amazon Prime! 

So, as I am going through these two books, the chapters lined up for me late last night and this morning. 

Knowledge. There are different kinds of knowledge. 

You can know of something and you can experience something to make you know it in a whole other dynamic. 

In Boys Adrift by Leonard Sax, he talks about boys memorizing facts while sitting in school. Yes, they may be learning some and gaining knowledge. It may or may not stick with them. It probably won't excite them to learn more, just hearing facts. This would be the wissenschaft. Important, yes.

Then there is the kenntnis. Gaining knowledge through experience. These are two ways of learning which are equally important and Mr. Sax emphasizes a good balance of the two. One can know of the water cycle and use the terms to explain it, but when we do a science experiment about the water cycle it really connects in our brains and makes it a known reality.  Better yet, letting kids play in the puddles and see as the sun comes out those puddles being evaporated allows them to have kenntnis, a deep knowledge/experience of this thing in life. 

So, getting to the other book I am going through and bringing it to a spiritual point. 

You can know of Christ. You can read the Bible. You can sing songs about God. Wissenschaft. 

Then you can kenntnis Christ. Experience Him personally. You can enter into a time of worship and feel His presence right there with you, in you. 

There are different types of knowledge. I want to have both. I love reading books but I also want to get out and experience what this world is like. Get my hands in the dirt, seeing those tiny sprouts come up out of the dark soil. Go to church and experience a deep understanding of who Christ is and why He would reveal Himself to us humans, His most beloved creation. Not just reading of relationships in wonderful books, but going deep with the people I have in my life and really knowing what it means to love and to lose. To work through emotions that come with bumping into each other, however lovely or painful that can be. 

Christ desires us to know Him. In both senses of the term. He wants to speak to us, revealing more of who His character is. We can't have a close relationship with someone just by knowing about them. We must spend time with them. Asking questions and really listening to their response. Seeing them over and over again, watching them closely. Seeing how they react or respond to life. The more time we spend with someone the more we kenntnis them. We know Christ by reading the scriptures and spending time with Him.

So here's to more knowledge. Both kinds! Read those books and blogs and articles but get out and experience life too for yourself!