The following offers an intriguing example of why we should strive not to rely on the obvious:
"Basic pilot training is for 'VFR' (visual flight rules) and if you’re not trained to fly 'IFR' (instrument flight rules) then clouds can and will kill you, because without a visual horizon to track, your instincts and senses will promptly start telling you lies about your airplane’s attitude and behavior, and if you’re not trained to override those gut feelings, and follow what the instruments say, then you are asking for a controlled flight into terrain." - from Where Have All the Pilots Gone? by Jon Evans
When everything is clear, we seem to get away with the visual approach. But introduce clouds or some sort of interference, and the visual input can be totally misleading and the educated response, referred to here as instinct and gut feelings, potentially disastrous. The cultivated spiritual sense relies upon an internal instrument panel that is always present and is not influenced by the input of the physical senses, knowing how deceptive they can be!
Jesus is the ultimate example. In a bustling crowd he detected a woman who touched him in the hope of getting healed. When feeding the 5000, he ignored the limited supply and provided for all. In rebuking the scribes and pharisees, he was not impressed with their position as the educated and good people of the time. In facing his crucifixion, he never wavered in an effort to avoid the experience, knowing that it was for the affirmation of his mission, not the nullification of it!
The takeaway? "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." (St.Paul) Here is some practical guidance for walking in the Spirit:
"Anatomy, when conceived of spiritually, is mental self-
knowledge, and consists in the dissection of thoughts to
discover their quality, quantity, and origin.
Are thoughts divine or human? That is the
important question. This branch of study is indispen-
sable to the excision of error. The anatomy of Christian
Science teaches when and how to probe the self-in-
flicted wounds of selfishness, malice, envy, and hate. It
teaches the control of mad ambition. It unfolds the
hallowed influences of unselfishness, philanthropy, spir-
itual love. It urges the government of the body both
in health and in sickness." (S&H)