July : Understanding

Build Something to Stand On
By Winifred Wilkinson Hausmann

Understanding is important in developing our spiritual nature, because it is the faculty which puts feet under our prayers and gives our spiritual activity something to stand on. Blind faith, faith without understanding of the spiritual laws, may get results on occasion, but our spiritual growth demands a base that is more dependable … understanding that is grounded in spiritual Truth.

Thomas is the disciple who stands for the faculty of understanding. A study of his contact with Jesus gives us some insight into the way we must develop our own ability to think and learn to make deductions and draw conclusions so that we may awaken this spiritual quality in us.

Thomas didn’t always have spiritual understanding but he wanted to learn. He didn’t mind asking questions, and he listened to Jesus’ answers. Thomas is probably best known for doubting the news of the Resurrection when he heard it secondhand from the other disciples. Jesus respected Thomas’ need to know firsthand.

The awakening of our own faculty of understanding starts with questioning—questioning the old ways of thinking that may have been taken for granted. The desire for understanding leads to thinking about what is learned and seeking to put it all together in a body of information that will provide a basis for living.

Understanding is different from wisdom. Charles Fillmore defines wisdom as “intuitive knowing; spiritual intuition,” and understanding as “the ability of the mind to apprehend and realize the laws of thought and the relation of ideas to one another.”

To put it more simply, wisdom knows. Understanding knows why. When your understanding is developed in both head and feet, not only will you have the light in mind, but you will also have the ability to apply it in your world.

Understanding

Affirmation: “My understanding of Truth deepens and directs my life.”
Understanding: The spiritual power for this month is represented by the disciple Thomas. The coordinating color is gold and the physical location is the front of the brain.