"I DON'T KNOW!"--By Father David       DFO985       12/2/78.

       1. ONE OF THE SMARTEST THINGS YOU CAN LEARN TO DO NOW IS SAY, "I DON'T KNOW"! That's a new wrinkle for our leadership, to learn three little words, "I don't know." That's different from the leaders of yesterday who thought they were supposed to know all the answers and were ashamed or embarrassed if they didn't give some answer.

       2. NOW THE SMARTEST THING YOU CAN DO IS SAY, "I DON'T KNOW". Either, "I just don't know", or if it's really such a big emergency the guy can't solve the problem, "I don't know, I'll ask somebody. I'll pray about it," or "I'll think about it. We'll discuss it and maybe we can think of something."

       3. IF IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE THEIR DECISION, the first thing you ought to do is tell them, "I'm sorry, I don't know. You're there, you'll have to make that decision yourself. You'll have to ask the Lord and you'll have to get an answer from Him." That's the best answer you can give people.

       4. YOU CAN ALWAYS GIVE THEM A LITTLE ADVICE AND COUNSEL if you do know something about it. You can give them a few tips or hints or something that might be helpful. But the burden of the final decision, if it's a local level matter or at a lower level, should be with them.

       5. THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE WHO DON'T LIKE FREEDOM to make their own decisions. There are some people who don't want freedom. They would rather have a dictator telling them everything to do.

       6. FREEDOM HAS ITS PRICE. Freedom costs something. With freedom you take on the responsibility of making your own decisions and taking the consequences.

       7. YOU CANNOT BE BOTH FREE AND SECURE, it's impossible. If you want complete total security, go to jail. Jail is the most secure place in the World!

       8. SO, IF YOU DON'T KNOW, SAY SO! Don't try to hide it and pussyfoot around and be ashamed and try to blunder along and mumble some kind of an answer, just say, "I don't know."

       9. IF YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S SUPPOSED TO KNOW AND FIND OUT, then say, "I don't know, but I'll try to find out." But if they're the ones that are supposed to know and it's their department on their level and they're supposed to find it out, just tell them, "Well, I'm sorry, you'll have to find it out and make the decision yourself."

       10. MY LORD, DON'T PRETEND YOU KNOW HOW TO DO SOMETHING JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO know how or people expect you to know how. If they ask you questions and you think you ought to know the answers but you don't know, don't be ashamed to admit it, not give them some phoney answer. It's so much better to be honest, Beloved.

       11. PUT ON YOUR GREEN SHIRT AND LET'S START BEING HONEST and tell people when we don't know. Then we can all turn to the Lord and the Letters for the answer, and follow God!--Amen?

       
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family