Author: Dr. Jay Forrest

The 1966 Congress of Messina wrongly defined “gnosis” as “knowledge of the divine mysteries reserved for an elite.” This mistake has been widely repeated.

Gnosis is not primarily rational knowledge. It is an intuitive process of knowing, an acquaintance with an object. It is a mystical experience—ineffable, more like feeling than intellect. It is not knowledge of something, but a direct encounter with Ultimate Reality.

Gnosis has a noetic quality. As William James notes, mystical states resemble feelings but are experienced as knowledge. They yield intuitions, a knowing beyond knowing.

Such experiences cannot be sustained indefinitely, nor produced on demand. They are initiated by God—an act of grace we can prepare for but never cause.

We must distinguish mysteria—mystic secrets for the initiated—from gnosis. The mysteria are truths communicated ordinarily but requiring spiritual illumination. Gnosis is not knowledge about God; it is the experience of Ultimate Reality, meeting the Divine in the heart.

Thus, “knowledge of divine mysteries for the elite” refers to mysteria. Gnosis is the awareness of the Divine presence when Reality manifests to the spirit. It is not knowledge about, but acquaintance with the Divine.

Abortion is a difficult and deeply contested issue. A balanced view recognizes both the moral weight of human life and the complexity of real situations.

One thoughtful position holds that human life is sacred from its beginning, and that decisions about bringing life into the world should be made with care, responsibility, and moral awareness. At the same time, it acknowledges that abortion carries a tragic dimension and should never be treated lightly or as a matter of convenience.

This perspective affirms responsible family planning and encourages serious reflection, guided by conscience, community, and ethical consideration. It also emphasizes compassion, recognizing that those facing such decisions often do so under difficult circumstances.

Importantly, it maintains that while abortion should be rare and approached with gravity, the role of law is limited. Legal restrictions alone cannot resolve the deeper moral and personal realities involved. Respect for individual conscience and access to safe medical care are therefore upheld.

This approach avoids extremes. It neither dismisses the value of life nor ignores the complexity of human situations. Instead, it calls for responsibility, compassion, and thoughtful moral judgment.

One of the great lessons in life is to realize that feelings follow our thoughts. We can change the way we feel by changing the way we think. This is a great help in times of stress, grief, and loss. How we conceptualize and judge an event produces the way we feel.

This truth, that our judgments about events and people create the way we feel, is the basis of cognitive behavioral therapy. CBT is one of the most successful psychotherapies currently available for mood disorders. You can take that element of truth and apply it to your own life.

Look at the way you feel, and examine the way you’re thinking. See the connection between your thoughts and your feelings. If you’re feeling depressed, sad, or lonely, stop and look at the way you’re thinking. Notice how your thoughts are negative, how they focus on loss and pain. Then try to change those thoughts and replace them with positive, realistic ones, thoughts that build you up and encourage you.

Imagine with me for a moment. You’re in a grocery store, and there are rude people all around you. The store is busy and hectic, and you just want to get out. Suddenly, someone pushes you from behind. You’re angry and frustrated. You are about to turn around and confront that jerk.

But when you turn around, you see a blind man who accidentally bumped into you. Instantly, your anger and frustration go away, and you feel sympathy. What changed?

The event is the same—you were pushed. But your interpretation of the event has changed, and that change in judgment has changed your emotional state. You think differently, so now you feel differently.

It was Epictetus, a Stoic philosopher, who said, “It’s not things that upset us, but our judgments about things.” It is not people who upset us, but our judgments about them. The push didn’t upset the shopper; the interpretation that it was intentional did. Once the interpretation changed, the feeling changed.

You have probably heard the motto, “If it feels good, do it.” That is some of the worst advice possible. It is the source of much that goes wrong in the world. We have ability to reason for a purpose, and that is to use it. Think before you act.

I suggest turning the motto on its head: if it feels good, don’t do it. It likely means you want to do it, not that it is right to do it. Wanting something does not make it right, and it does not make it wise.

All our decisions should be filtered through reason. We should consider the consequences of our actions. We should weigh the effects of what we do and say, both for ourselves and for others. If we are going to be good, we have to place the interests of others alongside our own.

We also have to be honest about our feelings. If our feelings are in the driver’s seat, our lives will be in shambles. Feelings are good indicators of what is going on beneath the surface, but they are poor drivers. We should make decisions based on reason and evidence, not emotion and impulse.

To gain wisdom, you must first know what it is. Unfortunately, this is harder than it seems, as there is no universal agreement.

Wisdom is not knowledge, which is the acquisition of facts and information. It is not experience, the practical application of knowledge in real-world situations. It is not understanding, the ability to comprehend and interpret information. And it is not prudence, the right use of knowledge. Rather, wisdom is the proper perspective of reality.

Wisdom arises from the skillful integration of knowledge, experience, and understanding. A proper perspective is God’s perspective; the closer we come to it, the wiser we are.

Worldly wisdom is a distorted perspective of reality, shaped by selfishness, personal bias, misinformation, and misinterpreted experience. Prejudice is prejudgment, and to prejudge is to misjudge.

I can give you answers, but not wisdom. Wisdom comes through a long process of integrating true knowledge with real experience into a proper perspective of reality—God’s perspective.

These reflections offer answers to problems you may not have fully struggled with. Still, I offer them in the hope that, if not now, they may be appreciated later. As the saying goes, “It takes more wisdom to receive advice than to give it.”