Decreasing the Information-Seeking: My Contemplation of Verse 48 of the Tao Te Ching

Dr. Dyer's book is Change your Thoughts--Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao.

Today, I am focusing on verse 48 of the Tao Te Ching:

Learning consists of daily accumulating.

The practice of the Tao consists of daily diminishing;

decreasing and decreasing, until doing nothing.

When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.

True mastery can be gained

by letting things go their own way.

It cannot be gained by interfering.

Collections--we all have one or another.  Some collect stamps.  Some collect baseball cards.  Then, there's someone like me, who collects information.  On a daily basis, I am collecting PDFs of printables that I can use with my kids.

In reality, should I be spending all of my time collecting teaching material?  When do I get to spend time with my children?  Hey, I'm just being honest.  I'm terrible about filling up my laptop's desktop with all kinds of useful recipes and medical information.  I need to stop doing that; I don't need anymore.

Perhaps, it's time to stop collecting information.  Perhaps if I stop spending my time collecting information, I can fill my time with precious moments with my children.  Perhaps, memories can be created that my kids will appreciate.  Perhaps, I can just sit here on my bed, dealing with my illness, as my kids visit with me.  Then, something spectacular can happen--bonding.

In order to gain peace in my life, I must pare down my information gathering, which has been time-consuming.  No one is gonna get hurt if I don't download the latest free printable or read the latest Facebook status.  If I let go of my need to find new bits of information, my kids stand a chance to have more time with me.  After all, there isn't much more information that I myself can add to this world.

Thanks for reading today's post about decreasing the information-seeking.  

I appreciate you taking the time to read it.  

I've got some questions for you: Are you spending too much time on a specific collection?  Or are you consumed with information-seeking?  Do you want to experience peace?  Perhaps, cutting down on accumulating something can free you up.  I pray that we all would seek peace from the Source of everything--Father, God.  I pray that we would ask God for His help to experience a deep, loving, and mutually beneficial relationship with Him.

May God bless you, my beloveds, with His wisdom and peace, in Jesus' name.  Amen!

This has been an entry for Wisdom Wednesdays.

I am currently drawing inspiration from Dr. Wayne W. Dyer's book and the 81 verses of the Chinese wisdom book the Tao Te Ching.

Knowing the World: My Contemplation of Verse 47 of the Tao Te Ching

Dr. Dyer's book is Change your Thoughts--Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao.

Today, I am focusing on verse 47 of the Tao Te Ching:

Without going out the door,

know the world.

Without looking out the window,

you may see the ways of heaven.

The farther one goes,

the less one knows.

Therefore the sage does not venture forth

and yet knows,

does not look

and yet names,

does not strive

and yet attains completion.

Knowledge--we all seek it.  We all want it.  We all need it.  How much do we need to know, though?  How can we obtain knowledge?

This 47th verse of the Tao Te Ching is saying we don't even need to venture outside of our home to obtain knowledge.  Lao Tzu explains that all we need to know is already within our reach.  In fact, Dr. Dyer mentions in his book, Change your Thoughts--Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao, about understanding this concept.  He gives the example of us having a beating heart that knows what to do.  We don't control it, but it exists in our bodies to do its job; our hearts just know how to beat.

The information age rears its ugly head.

I've been contemplating just what it means to be surrounded by endless information (knowledge).  Yesterday, I was taking a break from technology (internet, which has sped the rate of information that is transmitted).  I looked out my window and saw some birds (nature) perched on a wire.  I was in awe that nature seemed to be winning over technology.  My heart sank when I saw an airplane fly behind the birds.

There comes a time when we must realize that seeking information is futile.  

Even King Solomon, who was the wisest leader, understood that knowing everything was pointless.  You see, there's a difference between wisdom and knowledge.  Knowledge is just information.  Wisdom is knowing how to employ the information to the best of our ability.  Are we living that out?

Let's become like the wisest of people--the sages.  They know when to quit striving for knowledge.  Let's allow the sense of completion to wash over us.  Let's go back to simplicity, which can bring us to that sense of completion.  Simplifying our lives can bring us peace, and isn't that what we all need?

Thanks for reading today's post about knowing the world.  

I appreciate you taking the time to read it.  

I've got some questions for you: Are you striving for the ultimate knowledge of things, people, technology, etc.?  Are you frustrated with information-seeking?  Do you want to experience peace?  I pray that we all would seek peace from the Source of everything--Father, God.  I pray that we would ask God for His help to experience a deep, loving, and mutually beneficial relationship with Him.

May God bless you, my beloveds, with His wisdom and peace, in Jesus' name.  Amen!

This has been an entry for Wisdom Wednesdays.

I am currently drawing inspiration from Dr. Wayne W. Dyer's book and the 81 verses of the Chinese wisdom book the Tao Te Ching.

F is for Facebook & Safety

I'm currently participating in 

an ABC's for homeschooling challenge.  

Since it falls on Tuesdays, 

I am adding a technological slant to the challenge.  

I hope you stay tuned and enjoy my entries.

Facebook is a great place to connect with people.

Facebook often gets a bad rap.  Countless stories and studies tell of the bad side of allowing your children, who are 13 and older, to use Facebook.  There are some advantages to Facebook.  Following are some reasons to allow teens to use Facebook:

1. to connect with people.  Facebook allows one to find connections with family members and existing friends.  You can even make friends with distant relatives.  Facebook is especially helpful in connecting with people who live far from you.  For example, I have friends who live in other countries, like Canada and Britain.  I have friends who live in many states, like New York and Delaware, too.

2. to communicate with family and friends.  Facebook gives one the opportunity to converse and catch up with friends.  I like that Facebook gives its members updates on birthdays.  We then can wish, "a happy birthday," to each other.  We can also give notice about upcoming events like parties and graduations.

3. to make new friends.  With Facebook, you can find new people who share common interests.  This is a chance for teens to meet the children of our friends.  It is wonderful that I, as a homeschooling mother, can connect with other fellow homeschooling parents.  In the same vein, teens who are homeschooled can meet on Facebook.  They can then figure out for themselves if they are compatible.

4. to learn about the world.  Through Facebook, a teenager can begin to explore the world.  This is a brilliant way to use technology.  People share all kinds of information and websites on Facebook.  For example, just today, I shared a website having to do with World War II with my teenage son because I know that he likes to learn about World War II.  Someone had shared the same website with me on my Facebook.   

I didn't even know that Facebook had a safety center.  You can find it here:

Facebook's Family Safety Center

I would recommend sending your teens to this webpage for learning about safety:

Tips for Teens on Facebook

Well, thanks for reading this entry.  I hope I have provided some practical advice on how to use Facebook safely.  Facebook can be a useful tool for teens.

How about you, my readers?  Do you allow your children to get on Facebook?  Do your children have a Facebook account?  Are you "friends" with your teens on Facebook?  I encourage you to consider being "friends" with your children if they are on Facebook.  You should know what your children are up to on Facebook.  You can monitor their online activities that way.

I pray that God gives you all, my beloveds, His wisdom and peace.

This has been an entry for the Technology Tuesdays series.  

Training Up a Child

Training is part of a child's upbringing.

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

--Proverbs 22:6

I thought I would start this entry in a funny way.  Perhaps seeing this picture of a train will remind you of this entry.  This old Hot Wheels train has been in our family for many years.  You can see how old it is by looking at its wheels.  Yes, it has been played with so many times.

Just like that Hot Wheels toy has been played with many times, this Bible verse has been used many times as well.  I like to use a concordance, specifically The New Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.  I use it to define words that I might not understand.  I use it to help me get a better grasp of something special in the Bible.  It is a perfect companion for Bible studies.

Let's break down the verse I am focusing on:

train-to discipline; to hone in on the learning; to dedicate

child-youth

way-journey; course of life

old-grown up

depart-reject; leave undone

Now that we have a few definitions, we can understand more fully what the Bible verse says.  Basically, the parent, guardian, caretaker, teacher, or any other such person dedicates his/her life to raise the youth.  This person must discipline and/or hone the learning for the child.  This individual is charged with showing the child the journey or the course of life that he/she should follow.  When that youth grows up, because of all the learning he has done, in the hands of the teacher, he will leave nothing undone.  

He/She will not reject their learning because it is ground down into their psyche.  Now, I'm gonna give you the definition of psyche:

psyche  psy·che (sī'kē)
n.
 The mind functioning as the center of thought, emotion, and behavior and consciously or unconsciously mediating the body's responses to the social and physical environment.

psyche. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary. Retrieved March 27, 2011, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/psyche

I added psyche to the mix because it explains why the child will not veer from what he has learned.  It is like the child has information seared into his brain, like a rancher who brands his cattle for identification.  This is like when a person burns songs onto a CD.  

I'm just trying to help you, my reader, understand why it is so important to take the time to assess what the youth around you are learning.  

Our children are constantly learning from us, whether we understand it or not.  I think it is important to purposely teach our children what they need to learn.  After all, our children are a reflection of us.  We must teach our children quickly before they leave our homes.  It is important to note that what we teach them will determine how they interact with the world around them.

Oh, there is so much to teach.  

Will we fit it all in?  

With God's help anything is possible.

How about you, my readers?  Do you every wonder what your children are learning?  Are you taking time to discuss with them their path in life?  I hope you do have conversations with them.  Our youth need direction.

My beloveds, may God bless you all with His peace and wisdom.

This has been an entry for Spiritual Sundays.  I hope you enjoyed it.

To compile this mini- bible study, I visited: http://www.biblestudytools.com/