Teach me good, discernment and knowledge: Psalm 119: 66
Garden of Eden was the school for Adam and Eve. God created them, gave life to them and watched every step they took. He enjoyed His time with them. He took walks with them in the evenings. And then one day God found that they are growing up and they need to learn good and bad, right and wrong, discernment and knowledge. He then took them to the school of knowledge and world of choices.
God does the same thing today. God takes us through the garden of Eden. God creates, sustains and leads us to a world of good, bad, knowledge, discernment and then we are told to choose wisely. What God did to our first parents and to us is show us good and right, what to do and what not to do, where is knowledge and where is wisdom. Sometimes we have too many choices and too much knowledge to know the difference. This is slightly different from that of our forefathers.
So how do we know if we are choosing wisely? According to St. Paul when Love starts flowing from your heart, know you are in the path of good and knowledge. When your life, actions and thoughts are filled with love there will be more and more knowledge and full of insights. Knowledge is the insight you gain when you love without judgment. Discernment is the knowledge you gain from knowing your limitedness and God’s unlimited power to affect peoples’ lives. Goodness is the result of humility from knowing the limit and the love that arises out of God’s forgiveness.
(CR-Fr. Jos Tharakan)