Special Knowledge 11-16-13

Anderson, South Carolina

The middle of a cold dark night at 3 AM can be a most disquieting place for those of us with inclination towards sleep issues and over-thinking heads. It seems also to be fertile ground for purveyors of special knowledge. Commentators on TV infomercials fill hours with claims of special knowledge on how to find fountains of youth or unbounded riches. Talking heads on AM radio expound the latest conspiracy theory. Access to Truth is as near as the 1-800 toll free number, with operators standing by. The latest DVD or book promises us knowledge on how to be younger, richer, even better prepared when the Islamists or some other foreign force comes to take over the land. There’s grand profit being made by those exploiting the fears of survivalists.

I recently received a text message from a long-time friend now involved for several years in a religious group claiming special knowledge and understanding of ancient holy writings. As her increasing sense of exclusive knowledge has manifested, our friendship has waned to nothing more than a rare text message on my phone claiming special knowledge I should be paying attention to.

On Halloween Day I received a deadly serious text indicating I should be watching for a complete failure of the national power grid on Nov 14th because of a conspiracy by energy companies. I was also to watch for the coming of war because the tail of the comet ISON is pointing towards Mars. This same text also warned of the ominous nature of the hybrid solar eclipse taking place on Nov 3rd, with its center of totality being near Jerusalem.

A Google search of ‘power grid disruptions’ showed nothing more than a few small scheduled outages for disaster training. On Nov 16th there’ve been no disruptions to the power grid and my dividends from the largest power companies continue without interruption.

I can’t say for certain war needs to be ruled out or ruled in because of the orbital mechanics of a comet tail. Irrespective of orbital mechanics, I can say war is likely; humans have made it an international exercise to wage war since the very beginning of human history. Comet ISON was hyped to be a grandly brilliant comet, widely visible to earth viewers. It’s not likely that will happen. However I will be paying attention with cameras on tripod at the end of the month, hoping to get another example of our Creator’s sublime beauty. I sure won’t be thinking about war.

I was out at sunrise to observe the hybrid solar eclipse. Despite a clear view of the sun’s disk I saw nothing unusual despite indications my area would have a view of this interesting event. Our local viewing maps and the text message were in error. The area of best viewing was several hundred miles southwest of Liberia in the South Atlantic Ocean. Thousands of miles away in Jerusalem, it was just another day. I went home and made a nice hot breakfast.

Several years ago an acquaintance put me onto the Global Information Network. Self described as “a “Unique Success Club” for “entrepreneurs, small and large business owners, professionals, people who are self-employed, commissioned sales people, managers of people, anyone that wants to start their own business.” It was presented to me as a way to gain access to knowledge other people did not have. The GIN website itself even states, “Some of the member benefits are described on the Global Information Network website. Most member benefits, however, are confidential and revealed only to members in good standing.” In other words I have to pay first, then find out what I am getting. Joining is amazingly expensive, with a high entry fee and monthly dues. If my memory serves me correctly, this can be thousands of dollars. The GIN is a multi-level marketing scheme rewarding current members with incentives for sponsoring new members at the $1000 or higher level within sixty days through its Get 3 program. The knowledge within GIN is so special I can’t even find out what it costs to join or what I’m getting without a sponsor or without talking to an account specialist (salesperson).

Another text message back in May declared a small group of individuals was leaving man-made theologies behind. This text advised me the names of books in the Bible were wrong and there are 613 seeds in every pomegranate, corresponding to the 613 laws of the Torah. I fought off the urge to run to the nearest grocery and find several pomegranates to verify this text. First, I don’t especially care for pomegranates. Secondly, it would take a lot of time to do careful repeated measures to accurately count the seeds of several pomegranates; time put to much better use giving away my own special knowledge.

In my work with those in recovery, it’s my daily experience to encounter a lot of desperate people in deep pain. Is a struggling young newly sober uninsured mother without access to health care, with a sudden unexplained fifteen percent weight loss, going to gain hope from knowledge of how many seeds are in a pomegranate? Is an addict who burned through $100,000 in six weeks buying cocaine and meth for his friends and spent six years living under a tarp in the woods going to benefit from advance knowledge of a power grid disruption? Are the marginalized and disenfranchised of society going to benefit by my gleefully prancing about and proclaiming I have special life changing knowledge? Only $1000 down and it’s yours too.

In our increasingly competitive individualistic society, the ascendancy of the Information Age has given incentive to many to seek gain of one kind or another over those around them. Being the first to report catastrophic news allows one to be an important messenger. Having exclusive religious knowledge allows illusions of being God’s chosen ones. Having insider knowledge from one of hundreds of expensive financial newsletters might allow me to retain my investment fortune while watching you lose yours. Having special insight might allow me to charge you $1000 a day for continuing education seminars. Following the rantings of a conspiracy theory pundit might allow me to horde food, water, guns, and fuel, having a jump on you when bread is selling for $100 a loaf.

Yesterday an e-mail declared I could sit with other water color artists for a few hours and get pointers on improving my ability to paint boats; only $375. I supply my own materials. As a photographer, I often come across other photographers who will share their trade secrets for as much as $1000 a day on walk-abouts. Travel expenses are on me.

Thirty-five years ago Govindappa Venkataswamy, an ophthalmic surgeon, founded the Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai, India as an eleven bed clinic in his brother’s house. Presently, Aravind consists of nearly a dozen hospitals with more than three thousand beds delivering the highest quality ophthalmic surgery in the world to all who seek care; sixty percent of Aravind patients pay nothing. Patients are free to pay or not pay. There are no classes of care. All receive current state-of the art care with ocular implants. In 2012, three million outpatient visits and 349,000 surgeries were completed with outcomes equal or better than in North America or Europe. Average cost of a hospitalization including all services, intraocular implants, surgery, and follow-up is $35. The Aravind system is financially self-sustaining, generates a substantial operating surplus despite giving away most of its care and accepting no public moneys. It gives world class care for less than a penny on the dollar. As the largest provider of eye surgeries, the Aravind Hospitals provide seven percent of all eye surgeries in the world.

Perhaps most impressive is the willingness of the Aravind system to share any and all knowledge of any aspect of its operations with anyone on earth, including its direct competitors at no cost. A large training center is made available to all who would like on-site training to replicate the Aravind model of health care. Its industrial secrets are there for the taking, one does not have to pay $1000 down, get a sponsor, or count seeds. The place is an open book. One merely shows up with a desire to learn a better way.

The whole dynamic of recovery work is for those who have gained and maintained long-term sobriety to show newcomers exactly what they did to gain life beyond addiction. One cannot stay sober unless he shows others how to do it. A mantra in recovery is, “You can’t keep that which you don’t give away.” A lot of recovered alcoholics and addicts have figured that out. Govindappa Venkataswamy figured that out and he was not even in recovery.

The apostle Paul made it pretty clear closely-held special knowledge or action doesn’t count for much. He specifically declared, “if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” He goes on to say even burning one’s body without love yields nothing. There’s a strong intimation creating barriers to life enriching and affirming knowledge is the worst investment in the world.

Knowledge is a very special resource. Giving it away costs me nothing but gains me everything. If I share all my special knowledge about something with you, then there’s twice as much knowledge as before, perhaps far more if you in turn share it with others. As Govindappa Venkataswamy demonstrated, his special knowledge was amplified millions of times and continues to be amplified, despite his being deceased nearly a decade. Best I can tell, Jesus never gave Webinars, set up member-exclusive databases, did infomercials, or practiced insider trading. His life was an open book.

Perhaps, special knowledge is the wisdom gained from spiritual clarity, from living selflessly. I get to keep only that which I give away; no one was able to tell Rockefeller how to take his riches with him. The guy under the tarp eventually showed others how to live sober. Dr. V. allowed others to see their hands. I’m allowed to show others the world with my cameras.

“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.”

Blessings,

Craig C. Johnson