Look With fresh Eyes

Things are never known in their totality; an essential character of our perception of them is that of being inadequate.
—Emmanuel Levinas

After taking part in a spirited discussion about a non-canonical text—listening to a swath of opinions and phrases—I found myself thinking about Emmanuel Levinas—which is odd because I find his writings quite complex and I've only dipped one toe into anything he's written.

Levinas suggests that a text doesn't have meaning in itself, but requires a person who acts as an interpreter. Often texts require a number of interpreters.

He writes, "It all happens as though the multiplicity of persons...were the condition for the fullness...as though each person, through his uniqueness, ensured the revelation of a unique aspect of the truth..."

I know that Levinas talks about the temptation of temptation. Isn't that our desire to know—opening every envelope, but not necessarily experiencing what we're reading.

Then how do you make the choice of what envelope's contents you'll experience or follow? If you don't make a choice you become a "tourist"—hanging around the periphery.