A wise man gave me a warning. “Once you know something, you cannot un-know it”. He went on to remind me the dangerous of asking personal questions, probing, and snooping. His question circled several themes.
What was I going to do with the information?
Was I willing to see someone with hope knowing what I knew?
Could I let others be human while still having confidence in them?
The conversation was challenging. The context was my relationship with someone close to my heart. I came into the conversation thinking that I needed the full details of their life. I was concerned. I wanted to help. I thought that by knowing the details I could make a difference.
In hindsight, I can see his perspective. Knowing the full history about another is not always helpful. It establishes a bias within my perspective and colors how I see her/him.
I made the arguments then that I hear now. Knowing protects me from their agendas. Knowing gives me insights in how I can reach into their lives. Knowing gives me an edge.
I watch the politics unfolding around me. The situation is filled with tension. So much is at stake. I can see motives within individual actions. I can see people playing as if on a marionette’s string. They are on full display and yet I wonder how knowing more would help guide my response. Even if I knew that they were characters out of an old story, where their action were “a lie, of course—they had revived their old plot to set an ambush and kill him along the way.” (Acts 25.3)
Perhaps my response can be shaped differently. Instead of assuming (knowing) the worst, I can embrace the following.
Everyone holds an opportunity to make a difference. It is the heart of freedom.
If I respect, I can give another freedom with hope.
I can be vigilant, holding all to the commitments we share. I assume the best while verifying the results.
I walk with openness while striving to be a positive change agent within the present.
