Guest Writer: Shelby Trevor Ignorance is a quality that all human beings share. I say quality because it is a gift. It is a gift that many often do not recognize as such. When your consciousness is directed towards your own ignorance, then you could say the words, “I don’t know.” This is a liberating statement. It means you do not try to wield knowledge out of hubris. It means what you do know is your conscious direction towards the unknown.
We can learn to trust the process of thought-based knowledge and information arising to our conscious awareness when we need it. Simultaneous to any information sharing, our default state is optimal when we remain open to the mysterious, acknowledging our limitations, embracing our ignorance.
There are many who do not claim their own ignorance. Unconscious ignorance is just that. It knows not what it is. If we do not comprehend and harmonize with our own ignorance, we will not find forgiveness for ourselves and for those we label as ignorant. The great cycle of ignorance continues.
I believe this is what the wise teacher, Christ, meant by, You see the sliver in your brother’s eye, but you do not see the log in your own eye. When you remove the log from your eye, then you will see clearly enough to remove the sliver from your brother’s eye.
—Logion 26, Gospel of Thomas
Offering by Shelby Trevor North Sandwich, NH
Shelby John Trevor is a performing artist, teacher, composer, director, and sound healer searching for what unites humanity and what can be learned from engaging with the natural world about the meaning of our presence here on earth. For more information about Shelby, visit his website: