David Rauschenbach ("Leader by default")

I understood that the poverty of my life, the torment and the suffering, the loss of things I loved, and the many related and complex events were an expression of my actual state of being the poverty of my knowledge relative to what I was capable of knowing. When I plunged headfirst into "Faith without knowledge/works" I was choosing death, for "faith without works is... dead."

But what were these works? What was it that God gives liberally and ungrudgingly? Knowledge.

For that which is known about God, is evident to them [man] and made plain in their inner consciousness; because God has shown it to them. For, ever since the creation of the world, His invisible nature and attributes have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in and through the things that have been made - His handiwork. [Amplified, Zondervan]

According to the Sufi perspective, There is no God but God and knowledge concerns itself with knowing God. But in order to gain knowledge of God, it is necessary to utilize the intermediary of creation, which is, in fact, the purpose of all that exists. It not only IS God, it is the path to God. It is incumbent upon the seeker to learn all he can with a view toward God. All things must be gathered into the knowledge base of the Seeker and be taken back to God exactly as described in the Parable of the Talents.

To NOT work as diligently as possible to know God through the creation - and that includes all branches of knowledge and art and craft - is defined by the apostle [James] as passing judgment on God.

... And so, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God or approve of Him or consider Him worth knowing... [His invisible nature and attributes have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in and through the things that have been made - His handiwork.] O man, whoever you are who judges and condemns another... for n posing as judge and passing sentence on another you condemn yourself, because you who judge are habitually practicing the very same things that you censure and denounce... [Amplified, Zondervan]

This seems to be precisely what I experienced. I dove into the faith/love and light trip and all Hell broke loose!