Reason's Search for Truth

It was a blustery January day by my southern standards as I walked shivering across the campus of Princeton University. I had come for an interview as I was considering a Ph.D. in homiletics (preaching). My seminary professors had each given instructions on what to do when I arrived in Princeton. "Make it to the library!" said one. "Don't miss experiencing a chapel service," said another. "Whatever you do, just put your big toe on the grass at Albert Einstein's house," said the other.

My mind was filled with imaginings of what the third professor would say when he found out why I was walking so blithely yet frigidly toward Einstein's home. Not only would my big toe touch the ground, I was to have dinner with new found friends INSIDE his very home! I was so excited. Knowing that a man of brilliance and greatness had once walked that very sidewalk, ascended those very stairs and dined within the envelope of those walls was nothing less than thrilling!

Einstein has become such a representative of intellectualism that even phrases like, "Nice job, Einstein!" have become part of our language usage. Einstein was indeed brilliant and if he were here today, we could measure his level of human consciousness in the level known as reason. Of course, we've traversed the levels of force and examined the levels of power each one building on the one prior (courage, neutrality, willingness and acceptance) and now we find reason.

Reason is that level where the emotionalism of all of the other previous stages subsides. At this level amazing amounts of data can be processed for rapid decision making in way previously unknown to other stages. (At the very least, you would hope your doctor in an emergency room would live at this level!) This is the level of science and medicine that brings with it an ability for increased comprehension and conceptualization. Knowledge and education are valued supremely at this level. People who live at this level are often engrossed in their own thinking.

And thus the downfall of this level begins. Those who live at this level may well be some of the most creative thinkers among us and yet they can get caught in their own intellectualism. They miss the forest for their intense focus on the tree in front of them. Specifics are their great interest but balancing such knowledge can keep them from the balance of the whole picture. They become so utterly enamored with the technical that they tend to miss the spiritual. Given that fact, this is the highest level that most humans will ever reach as far too few are adept at enabling the spiritual balance necessary for transcending this level.

Ultimately, in one's search for truth, the person at this level will produce volumes of information but will lack the skills to propel them toward a definitive discovery of truth.

For all of the value that I found in those hours of soaking in Einstein's intellectual energy, I can only hope that somewhere along the way of my journey, Iwill have the spiritual capacity to transcend the stage of consciousness that ultimately held him hostage. I hope that for us all! May we find our way toward love! Amen.