"You've got to find the Higher Order."  I heard that phrase repeatedly from my loving, intoxicated father when I was young and extremely impressionable.  He was loving, hard working, provided well for his family and was quite the philosopher. 

This morning when returning some materials to the bookshelf, I noticed the book "How to Win Friends & Influence People" by Dale Carnegie.  My father studied Dale Carnegie's work. If interested in understanding human nature, it's as good place as any to start.  Of course today, we have such an overwhelming amount of information available to us, it's sometimes a challenge to know where to start.  "How to Win Friends and Influence People" is a classic; it will not become outdated even though it was copyrighted in 1936. It's a good read.

Seeing the book is what got me thinking about the "Higher Order".  Those words spoken by my father, repeated over and over to a young mind, mine, that wanted desperately to understand, created in me a hunger and passion to know and experience what is beyond the material. That hunger and passion to know the higher order, the truth that sets us free, has defined and shaped my life. "You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free."  It is not just intellectually knowing a thing, but experientially knowing it that makes us free. It's simple, but it takes a deep honesty and courage that not all are willing to muster.  I'm pretty sure that's why Christ said (I'm going to quote it from the King James version; it's so poetic.) "Enter ye in at the strait gate for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat::  because strait  is the gate, and narrow is the way which leads unto life, and few there be that find it."   (Strait means narrow.) That tells me persistence, patience, and courage are a few of the qualities that will be required for the journey.

Knowing "God", loving "God", self and others is what is most important to me. I keep that foremost in mind.  It is my heart.  In a nutshell, love "God", love neighbor as self, that is the higher order for me. Are we there yet? No. There is no arrival.  It is the journey I choose, over and over again, every day I am thankful to awaken.

Knowledge is power, or so the well quoted slogan states. I think not. The potential for power is there, but knowledge alone is not power.

Knowledge must be applied to unlease the inherent potential.  Knowledge is content, information, the "how to" of life. My head can be filled to overflowing with knowledge, but if I do nothing all the day long, what power is there in that?  I must act on what I know.

My intention and how I use the knowledge determines the quality of the outcome. Maybe it's semantics.  With a slight adjustment in the saying, I would find it more palatable. For instance "Experiential Knowledge is power."  I think that is closer to the truth.  At least that implies that the knowledge must be applied.  Try it out.  See if it works.  Otherwise, it's just a bunch of "files" & "boxes" of stuff cluttering up the mind. Hey, I'm entitled to my opinion.

For your consideration, I've included dictionary definitions of knowledge and power.

Knowledge: Facts, information and skills acquired by a person through experience or education.

Power: The ability to do something or act in a particular way, as a faculty or quality, or to direct or influence the behavior of others, or the course of events.

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