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Scent of Light Episode

by Ken Norton

Recognition

Original Broadcast September 8, 2019
Repeat Broadcast on October 25, 2020.

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The audio file above is the spoken word recording without background music provided to Radio KOWS 92.5 FM broadcast of the Scent of Light episode for insert into the Radio Spotlight Magazine with host Andre Marc.

Transcript

In this episode on the Scent of Light I will speak on recognition, both the giving and the receiving of recognition. This week we celebrated our great-granddaughters first birthday. All of us, the parents, the grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins and family friends, yearned to receive that smiling look from the baby. We all wanted to be recognized by her, to be somebody special in her life, to have a purpose in life which includes her. And the baby responds to our loving glances and gaze. Eventually she accepts her name as a symbol of her recognized as a member of the family and as a person who recognizes and categorizes, Such recognition has contributed to her growth of her body and her character, and to us older ones the joy and love of her in our lives with the realization of the continuance of life..

Recognition expands from our early family beginnings as we seek allies in life beyond the family among our neighborhood and school peers and the various authorities like teachers, ministers, police and firefighters. We grow into discerning the differences in recognition, and this leads to judgments over likes and dislikes, friends and foes - judgments in the beginning arising from those of our parents and loved ones. Our attending Daycare and schools introduce knowledge and values that may differ somewhat from those held by the family, which can cause some confusion. Depending on the knowledge and willingness of the parents these differences of opinion are explained in ways usually to defend the family traditional values, perhaps values tied to cultural or religious beliefs.

By the time we finish high school our recognition can be more finely tuned to what matters to the highest ideal we have of our self. We notice our conscience responding to people and opinions when core beliefs are tested. We then begin developing strategies in our mind to reconcile differences.
Recognition of our core beliefs is most important to this discerning our path through life. We benefited in childhood with the beliefs of our parents or guardians. Such guides cannot always be around, so we learn to trust our knowledge as we venture out into the larger community. But knowledge is often dated and may lose validity with the advent of new knowledge. Intuition is the father of new knowledge while empiricism is nothing but an accumulation of old knowledge. said Albert Einstein to my mentor Dr. William Hermanns in a conversation in Einstein's flat in Berlin in 1930 and published in his book Einstein and the Poet - In Search of the Cosmic Man. Einstein continued, Intuition makes us look at unrelated facts and then think about them until they can all be brought under one law. Intuition, not intellect, is the ‘open sesame’ of yourself.

To recognize intuition as guidance requires the practice of reflection and meditation. As children we may have had experiences of quiet time in church or school. As adults we can do this practice of self-reflection by setting some time aside in the day to still the mind of emotion-fueled stories by watching and modifying the breath. The more often we enter into this still place within, the more we recognize this part of our self, the self not at the mercy of thoughts and emotions and breathing slow and deep. Recognizing this Self gives us the measure to recognize allies and allied principles in sync with ours. Expressing this recognition to oneself and to one's allies creates stronger bonds for future work together. Don't be shy and express your gratitude for your True Self and those allies in your life.

This is Ken Norton on the Scent Of Light. You can contact me via Ken at KennethENorton.com. The Scent of Light episodes are archived on the web at kennethenorton.com. Thanks for listening.

About the Author and Producer

Ken Norton earned his master's degree in Materials Science from Stanford University as the Vietnam War was ending. During that time Ken served as the personal assistant to a poet/sociologist Dr. William Hermanns as he prepared his writings for publication, exposing Ken to not only the sciences but also the humanities and comparative religion for making conscious and conscionable choices.

Ken is a regular contributor to Radio Spotlight Magazine with his episodes on the Scent of Light.

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