34\u00a0 bar rises 30.15 0mpn NNE dewpoint 28\u00a0 Spring<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Waxing Crescent Moon of Growing<\/p>\n
“Where is the Life we have lost in living? Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?” – T. S. Eliot<\/a> <\/p>\n Eliot is fussy, conservative and pedantic; yet, he is also a beautiful poet and a trenchant critic.\u00a0 I often wonder about the last two of his questions.\u00a0 As an\u00a0obsessive gatherer of knowledge and information, it often seems that knowledge gets swamped by information and facts.\u00a0<\/p>\n In case you wondered, like I just did, what knowledge means, I found this helpful:\u00a0 “Knowledge is part of the hierarchy made up of data, information and knowledge. Data are raw facts. Information is data with context and perspective. Knowledge is information with guidance for action based upon insight and experience.”\u00a0\u00a0 And this, too, a pragmatic (philosophical) definition:\u00a0 “the human capacity (both potential and actual) to take effective action in varied and uncertain situations.”\u00a0 This, too:\u00a0 “Knowledge is an appreciation of the possession of interconnected details which, in isolation, are of lesser value.”<\/p>\n As long we’re on this\u00a0track, here are a few definitions of wisdom:\u00a0 “is the ability to discern inner qualities and relationships; it is synonymous with insight, good sense, and sound judgment. It means to have “deep understanding”, “to have keen discernment”\u00a0 I like this one, too:\u00a0 “Knowledge with information so thoroughly assimilated as to have produced sagacity, judgment, and insight.”<\/p>\n The first one of his three questions is tougher.\u00a0 The nesting nature of the wisdom\/knowledge\/information trio suggests that Eliot also sees this:\u00a0 Life\/living\/wisdom\/knowledge\/information.\u00a0\u00a0 My impression, though, is that he sees Life\/living as almost apposite and separate from the other two questions.\u00a0\u00a0So, it might be that he suggests an analogous relationship, i.e. Life\u00a0gets swallowed by the details of living in the same way wisdom can be consumed by knowledge and knowledge in turn overwhelmed by information.\u00a0<\/p>\n It is so often true.\u00a0 The mundane, even profane (as opposed to sacred, not as in obscenity) aspects of our daily life can so focus our attention that we lose the joy, the delight afforded by this rare and precious gift of Life.\u00a0 Let me give you an example.\u00a0 On some days I go into the garden and my intent is to weed.\u00a0 Or to prune. Or to plant or transplant.\u00a0 If my task obscures the joy the garden itself brings into my life, if I find myself mumbling about the difficulty of getting rid of this particular kind of weed or the physical challenge of a difficult pruning, then I have lost the Life the garden can bring me in the details of gardening.\u00a0<\/p>\n So often delight gets pushed away by duty, joy by drudgery.\u00a0 The invitation to be in the Eternal Now is the antidote.\u00a0 If, in my weeding, I can appreciate the tenacity and strength of the weed, if I can experience just a tinge of regret for having to remove it, then I am in the moment, aware of the wonder of plant life rather than disgusted by the invader.\u00a0 If pruning allows me a chance to notice the growth pattern of the shrub or tree, to wonder at the delicate reaching for air and light that branches are, then I can settle into the truth of the garden itself, become a part of its work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 34\u00a0 bar rises 30.15 0mpn NNE dewpoint 28\u00a0 Spring \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Waxing Crescent Moon of Growing “Where is the Life we have lost in living? Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?” – T. S. Eliot Eliot is fussy, conservative and pedantic; yet, he is … Continue reading Where Is The Life We Have Lost In The Living?<\/span>