True Understanding

True understanding is revealed by both intellect and conscience. 

Saul had a talent for making good decisions. Around his desk could be found scraps of paper listing the pros and cons in a right or left hand column. Always there were many such pages for each decision. Now, Saul's youongest son caused him to use more and more paper. Over the years, there were many decisions. At first, the questions were simple, like whether money spent on a pet would really help him become a better person. Next, questions came about attending an alternate school, the pros and cons of a special summer camp, and and should he pay for traveling costs in a performing group. Later, the questions were more expensive, like loaning money, maintaining a car, help with taxes, help with a troubled relationship, and hte list could continue. 

These and many, many more decisions were always there and Saul received constant counsel from others that he was producing a spoiled child. Saul listened with interest to the opinions of others, repeatedly  made his lists of pros and cons and in almost all cases ignored the results of his listings when it came to his son. Instead, he went with his conscience,he went with his heart. In the early years there was no gratitude shown, and he recieved little respect from the son. But, Saul saw in this son a good person with a kind heart, and his insights could not be calculated intellectually, nor could it be easily entered into the logical reasoning processs that typically guided his decisions year after year. 
   
  After many years, Saul can now see a young man, working full time, attending the university, and in many other ways being a very responsible person. Saul now knows that he made the right intuitive decisions in the face of contrary advice and reasoning. 

We all need insights to understand other people, and, of course, reasoning or using our intellect is still the traditional and time- honored method used to arrive at insights. However, if one examines the histories of great discoveries, we find that the greatest discoveries often came in unexpected moments and in ways that were not predicted. Researchers have tried to find the rules that govern the creative discovery and usually find that for the well- trained person, they often have to back away from an exclusive rational approach. 
   Creative dicvoeries often come from some kind of subconscious or unexepected, novel, new, visual, or auditory experience. 
   Because most of our dealings with people often have a moral component, the insights to understand their moral nature often comes from our moral sensitivity or what we have been calling conscience. The best way to understand and treat another is frequently revealed by our conscience rather than or in addition to a rational, intellectual or scientific analysis. This concept is very applicable to marriages, where so many difficulties are over moral issues.