{"id":72582,"date":"2026-05-22T14:24:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T12:24:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/?p=72582"},"modified":"2026-05-22T14:24:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T12:24:24","slug":"to-know-is-to-be-able-a-plea-for-joy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/to-know-is-to-be-able-a-plea-for-joy\/","title":{"rendered":"To Know Is To Be Able: A Plea for Joy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Is there something real in the statement \u201cI can’t\u201d? It is through owning the resistances we face, step by step, that we discover our ability. We are then sustained by purpose and the power of joy.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When faced with a challenging task and our own soul\u2019s limitations, we often exclaim, \u201cI can\u2019t!\u201d But if we look closely at the situation, we realize that these words don\u2019t actually refer to something real, but rather to a mental picture like \u201cI can\u2019t walk; I\u2019ve lost a leg!\u201d In spite of this we could grab a pair of crutches or strap on a wooden leg\u2014or better, a modern prosthesis\u2014and then say: \u201cBehold, I can<\/em> walk!\u201d Our first statement referred to a momentary situation, not to life itself. It was a stimulus for us to take action, to move forward in some way. When confronting external obstacles, there are countless ways to express the impulse to live on that lies deep within us, no matter how weak it may be in the moment. Every being strives forward in their own way. Development itself is the primal being of creation: the movement from potential to realization, from inner predisposition to its unfolding. Beings \u201cunfold\u201d themselves. Life is self-realization. Through all spheres of beings, the joyful cry resounds: \u201cI am becoming\u2014I can!\u201d There is something significant here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resistance Is Part of Us<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s examine the phrase \u201cI can\u2019t!\u201d We can see that it\u2019s often a cover for \u201cI don\u2019t want to!\u201d If our impulsive feelings filter our view of a situation, we actually confirm that this view does not come from an understanding of reality but is rather a self-deception\u2014one with severe consequences. We don\u2019t usually want to admit it, but our nature lives fundamentally in a process of development. To not acknowledge this means that I don\u2019t know myself! We tend to hide from confronting this fact because hidden deep within our will we sense\u2014or even know\u2014that \u201cto be able\u201d requires strenuous effort. We use our self-deception\u2014albeit unconsciously\u2014to justify our \u201cI can\u2019t!\u201d The purely external impossibilities of our situation are often clearly known to everyone. And yet we conceal, blur, suppress, or simply gloss over the fact that they are of limited significance. We move them from the realm of living, processual thinking into the realm of finite, fixed mental pictures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Shuts Down Thinking<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This self-deception often has to do with the fact of simultaneity. If I justify my inaction by saying, \u201cI can\u2019t play tennis and swim at the same time,\u201d we can easily see that to claim otherwise would be absurd. It\u2019s more complicated when I look at a list of tasks and say, \u201cI can\u2019t.\u201d If these tasks come as a cluster of demands, I easily feel overwhelmed, and this feeling shuts down my thinking: \u201cThat\u2019s too much; I can\u2019t handle it.\u201d My will is paralyzed. A similar situation occurs when a teacher stands in front of their class for the first time and sees all the unfamiliar faces. The teacher suddenly feels completely overwhelmed, fears appearing foolish during the lesson, and fails to connect with the students. But then they dive into the lesson and it turns into a great class\u2014even according to the students! The key is both a sense of trust in the unity of life and carrying out our tasks step by step. This is only possible when we know that each step is part of the whole; each step mysteriously encompasses all other steps within itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It Is We Ourselves<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The knowledge that \u201call is one and one is all\u201d gives us confidence that we can master every possible step as time goes on so that the thought \u201cI can\u2019t\u201d won\u2019t arise. There is no outer force that comes and overwhelms us\u2014it is we ourselves. In my 1989 article, I wrote how often Rudolf Steiner clearly pointed out where we must seek the path to the innermost sanctuary in spiritual science.<\/span>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span> For example, in The World Riddles and Anthroposophy<\/em>, he says, \u201cIt is a fundamental principle for the occultist to see other human beings in reality as the revelation of one\u2019s own higher self, because then one knows that one must find the others within oneself.\u201d<\/span>2<\/sup><\/a><\/span> In Theosophy<\/em>, his statements about destiny (Ch. 2) culminate in the sentence, \u201cIn what happens to him [the human being], he will know his own \u2018I\u2019.\u201d<\/span>3<\/sup><\/a><\/span> This is summarized by Steiner in his verse: \u201cSeek within your own being, and you will find the world; seek in the workings of the world, and you will find yourself.\u201d<\/span>4<\/sup><\/a><\/span> What can act as a hindrance to our understanding and experience is a deep fear that the vast and stronger world seems to want to attack us. But this is a fear of the ego, the \u201clower\u201d self bound by space and time. We shut ourselves off from the world, saying, \u201cI am here; the other is there.\u201d We begin to wither away like a branch that cut itself off from the tree\u2019s life-giving sap. To get moving again we must then ask ourselves, \u201cWhat is the essence of God?\u201d and we will know: \u201cHe is all and he is each and every one. If He is infinite and eternal, nothing else can exist besides Him. He created the universe from nothing other than Himself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With regard to his wooden sculpture \u201cThe Representative of Humanity,\u201d Steiner mentioned that he should actually have placed Lucifer and Ahriman inside the central figure. He decided not to because it would have been too shocking for people at that time.<\/span>5<\/sup><\/a><\/span> The resistance we face is within; it is the driving force within us. Without it, we would not exist. Even evil is good, precisely because it is \u201cgood to overcome.\u201d Life arises from \u201crepulsive manure.\u201d<\/span>6<\/sup><\/a><\/span> \u201cI am the Lord, and there is no other. I have created the world, the light and the darkness, the good and the evil. I am the one who does all these things\u201d (Isaiah 45:6\u20137).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joy, the Wunderkind [Wonder Child]<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The world groans under the immense weight of suffering that causes a thousand voices to cry out, \u201cI can\u2019t.\u201d And yet, it is precisely in the deepest distress that the true human being finally awakens. It is here that the great miracles of perseverance, overcoming, and resurrection occur. If we should be trapped beneath fallen walls and earth or imprisoned in a concentration camp, as so many have testified, and we no longer know any meaning in our lives, we may well fall into despair. But if we know wholeness, we can find a new beginning. We are all familiar with the images of starving children, and we can place beside this another image of a radiant mother at her vegetable stand. We feel called to provide external, material support. But to develop a deeply rooted ability to say \u201cI can,\u201d what humanity needs most is to consciously awake through knowledge. And where do we start? With a love-filled willingness to give and with gratitude to a world that gives to us the possibility of existing and being alive. Born of these two and permeating all the world is joy\u2014the \u201cwunderkind.\u201d Joy extends into the very life of knowledge itself. In his Course on Education for Special Needs<\/em>, Steiner called upon the therapists to \u201cLive with the deepest joy for truth!\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0. There is nothing more delightful than the experience of truth.\u201d<\/span>7<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Schiller and Beethoven, in their timeless collaboration, have given us the most beautiful guidance: \u201cJoy, thou beauteous godly lightning, daughter of Elysium.\u201d<\/span>8<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Joy is the inward essence of positivity. Every doctor, every psychologist knows positivity is what truly heals. And negativity, condensed into modern-day depression, is the great barrier\u2014inspired by the \u201cspirit of negation\u201d\u2014to the process of any genuine recovery. Positivity provides the assurance that one will ultimately get through the difficulty, even when this includes suffering. Ability, \u201cto be able,\u201d has the presupposition: to be willing to endure pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belief, love, and hope: from these springs \u201cI can,\u201d and they cause the song of joy to arise from our hearts. This magnificent \u201cTrine\u201d is that through which the divine Trinity of our eternal spiritual being is revealed in the life of our soul\u2014the Trinity, upon which we \u201cmake our vows,\u201d our decision to walk the path to the light, the path we now know deeply. Yes, we know the way\u2014we can!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Translation <\/strong>Joshua Kelberman
Photo <\/strong>Aron Visuals<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is there something real in the statement \u201cI can’t\u201d? It is through owning the resistances we face, step by step, that we discover our ability. We are then sustained by purpose and the power of joy. When faced with a challenging task and our own soul\u2019s limitations, we often exclaim, \u201cI can\u2019t!\u201d But if we look closely at the situation, we realize that these words don\u2019t actually refer to something real, but rather to a mental picture like \u201cI can\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22567,"featured_media":72280,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9115,8788],"tags":[11797,11798,8814],"class_list":["post-72582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-consciousness","category-essay-en","tag-ausgabe-19-2026-en","tag-english-issue-21-2026","tag-musings"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22567"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72582"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72605,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72582\/revisions\/72605"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}