What I would say to those in a normal state of non-understanding
What I would say to normal, average people who typically don't know much about themselves, the world, or any higher meaning...
We're all close to death, read the Bible.
You have no understanding.
Your worldview is a jumble of idiocy.
Your very soul is hostage to embarrassment and shame regarding truth; i.e. anytime you move towards truth or have it presented to you you feel embarrassment and shame. Embarrassment derived from the people around you who demand that you stay just like them; and shame derived from the spirit of disobedience within you which is the spirit of Satan we're all born with; i.e. you're going against your spirit of disobedience thus it makes you feel a perverse shame.
Once you break free of these barriers you have to start engaging influences that give you building blocks of understanding until you can begin to see the parts in relation to the whole.
These influences are primarily the written word, though music/art and physical development (athletics/performing arts) play a big role in getting a balanced development overall. But God has put a unique power into the written (or spoken) word. History, imaginative literature, philosophy, science, religion.
You have to start off somewhere, but eventually you become more and more systematic in your efforts as you see more and more of the 'landscape' you are in and that's before you. You also begin to see the hierarchy that influences fall into. Higher influenes are more rare (many genre novels, few epic poems) and require more effort of attention (a thriller or romance novel easy to read; a classic novel or ancient historian more difficult to read).
Sounds like a lot. It is. It also sounds like it requires a lot of time. It does. This is why this development of real understanding is rare. Many excuses (and legitimate reasons like job, family, etc.) not to do it.
"Isn't that what I did in college?" some might say. Yes, ideally, to some extent. But motivation matters, and when motivation is external (get a grade, graduate) it's not the same as being inwardly motivated, which is what is really necessary. That "love of learning" that colleges and universities say they want to instill in you, that will abide after you leave the campus. At least in the past they did. Today they want to indoctrinate with very concentrated poison.
You have to do it on your own, of your own volition and motivation, with the goal of getting real understanding.
