connection between these two points, to the length of the connection, and the space the connection exist in. Combined, equate one’s S.I.Q. These variables determine whether you’re anchored in deep oceans, or if you’re anchored on a beach shore. Jesus illustrates this in the Parable of the Mustard Seed (Matt. 13:31), which removes all attempts to measure and /or compare it. Just as the largest S.I.Q. can have an impact on society, so can the smallest.

 

        Even so with S.I.Q., the knowledge of Self-concept and how “Self” relates to and effects a community and the world is just as important. Some of the most notable figures in history had to increase their S.I.Q. to overcome resistance in their lives. So how do you raise your S.I.Q.? The New Testament is mainly about Jesus. The beginning of Gospel of Luke begins with Mary and her cousin Elizabeth (the mother of John the Baptist). It starts before they gave birth. Mary lived with Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah, a priest of the family division Abijah. Though the Bible stops there, other texts provide accounts of the study and preparations Mary and Elizabeth did to increase their S.I.Q. to raise Jesus and John the Baptist. The commonality of these women was they were righteous before GOD and blameless in all commandments and statutes. (See Luke 1:6). Yet, it is here at birth where S.I.Q. begins.

 

      We are all born with a S.I.Q., though it is in its’ foundational state. We come into this world without a compressive understanding of it. We can neither speak the language, nor do we really know the mother/woman that birthed us. We come into this world helpless and vulnerable. It is this stage of our lives that all we can do is cry out in ‘HOPE’. Hope that we are fed, clothed, kept warm and more. In most cases, the hand that rocks the cradle determines the directions of the child’s S.I.Q. Thus, what a mother (or parents) know will be learned by the child. In fact, the Nation of Islam teaches in “How to Give Birth To A God,” that, “A Nation can rise no higher than its’ woman,” and that, “Where there are no righteous woman, there are no righteous men.” In Proverbs chapter 22, verse 6, Solomon counsels: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Parents with high S.I.Q. can produce a Jesus, John the Baptist, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Imhotep, Isaac and Ishmael, Mother Tynnetta Muhammed, Nat Turner, Jimmy Graham, most of the Kentakes of Sheba, and “Aisha Bint Abu Bakr (‘Bint’ means ‘Daughter of’; Abu Bakr was a faithful companion and sincere friend of Prophet Muhammad of Arabia).

 

        On the other hand children who S.I.Q. decreases form birth, tends to adopt a growing sense of Self-Independence. (This is contrary to high S.I.Q. because of their understanding of ‘Interdependence’.) This feeling produce increasing moments of Self-Absorbed thinking causing doubt, fear, distrust, hate, envy, jealousy, and a lack of faith. It drives and feeds the desire and egotistical need to have and be in control. This kind of thinking produces a Cain, (the brother of Abel), which ultimately can lead to murder. (Gen. 4:4-8). Consequently, while in this state of low S.I.Q., it is not until we find ourselves in trouble with forces that have always existed, yet beyond our control. Then, it is here that we are forced to rely upon our feeble S.I.Q. This sudden reality check of our true vulnerability and susceptibility shatters our delusional sense of Self-Independence. It is also at this juncture that we become either sincerely humble, which may be temporary and thus insincere, or expanding obstinate. But the question still remains, ''How do you raise your S.I.Q.?''

 

  In the 3rd chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus tells Nicodemus that, “…unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus perplexed asks, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” In the Gospel of Luke Chapter 18 verses 16 and 17, Jesus explains, “God’s kingdom belongs to people like them,” (he’s talking about children), and, “Anyone who will not receive God’s kingdom like a little child will never enter it.” Take notice of children when they’re learning. Their eyes sparkle with joy. They bubble with curious wonder and eagerness. Their energy is so infectiously radiant that you begin to feel excited with and for them. This state of S.I.Q. is most receptive. Yet, it takes more than just learning something new or interesting. Prayer and Action are two components vital to raising S.I.Q. Acting on knowledge allows you to gain understanding, while Prayer allows the infinite aspects of its wisdom to unfold a little at a time.

 

        Malcom X, for example, was at his lowest S.I.Q. when he went to prison. While in segregation [The Hole], he began to pray. He sought to establish inner peace, which became his platform to build upon. From there, he studied the dictionary, which fueled his desire to learn more and act upon that knowledge with confidence and zeal. Prayer reinforces and builds one’s confidence. It in turn encourages and supports Action. Just as you don’t step on concrete thinking it will give way under you, you step on it with confidence and faith in the knowledge of its’ ability. You never doubt it, even when you see cracks in it. Don’t be like Peter who asked for the ‘Command’ (the Power) to walk out on water only to lose faith in the ‘Command” when the slightest air of opposition comes upon you. (See Matt. 14:22-32).

 

        We all have inherited the power to command in order to achieve greater things than those who proceeded us. Frederick August Washington Bailey, better known as Frederick Douglass, possibilities opened up once he learned how to read, revealing a world then entitled to freed men. Prayer gave him the courage to act upon what he learned, during a time when education was unlawful and fatal for those who were not legally free. Even so, here’s a man who was a slave that became the U.S. Minister to Haiti (1889-1891). Jesus’ brother James, was right when he explained that faith without works is dead. (See James 2:14-26). Building S.I.Q. may sound like work, but how much do we deny ourselves the kingdom of God by not even making an effort? Every moment spent Learning, Praying and Acting is like seeds that fall on good soil, which will produce a yield of 30, 60, 100 fold. (See ‘The Parable of the Sower’, Matt 13:3-8).