I DO NOT KNOW

The Desert Fathers (Fourth Century AD) have many wonderful sayings and stories. I like this one:

“Once some of the old men came to Abba Anthony and Abba Joseph was among them. Abba Anthony wanted to test them, and so he begins to talk about the Holy Scriptures. He began asking the younger monks the meaning of one text after another and each replied as best they could. But he said to each of them, “You have not found the meaning of it yet.” Then he said to Abba Joseph, “What do say this text means?” He answered, “I do not know.” Abba Anthony said, “Indeed, only Abba Joseph has found the true way, when he said he did not know.”

When I was young I too knew ‘all the answers’ concerning scripture…now what I clearly know is that I clearly do not know.

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me.” Jesus