which comes first? understanding or acceptance?

As an orphan.

Sometime you have to learn to accept

acceptance and rejection, before you understand it. <}:-{(

It would depend on the situation, one size doesn't fit all. You explain in simple terms to a child but you go into more depth when discussing the same subject with a grownup, true?

Seen from another point of view, it appears that tolerance is mere acceptance without understanding. You can accept/tolerate those who are different from you but do you really understand them? That is where questioning and getting beyond appearances would be helpful.

I daresay politicians would love to have us accept everything they say without fully questioning or understanding it. That would make their work easy not having challenges to face from the voters.

So, as I said, the circumstances will probably dictate which comes first. When the Master said to "cast your net on the other side", the disciple did so in trust and acceptance but did not understand, so for those who lack experience or knowledge one learns to trust the advice of those who know more, and of course age will be a factor - keep it simple for young minds.

Just my two cents' worth. ;- )

"in order to know and accept something as true, one must question, analyze, and understand it"--- This is how adults think. The mind of an adult is already critical, it is already packed with experiences and knowledge, it will be hard to accept something without fully understanding it. One needs an explanation in order to accept one's reason is valid. Truthseekers will ask how, why, what, where, who and when. "Is God Real"--- whether the answer is yes or no, the question requires proof and a critical thinker will never accept an either yes or no answer. In the case of the child, it doesn't necessarily mean the child already "truly" accepts what has been handed to him/her, it's just that the child accepts something for the meantime as he/she still needs to grow up and needs to have his/her own experience to "fully" understand something then "decides" whether to really accept an "imposed" belief or not later in his/her life.

Understanding and accepting are obviously two different things, but when they occur simultaneously they are not so distinctive, especially when it comes to understanding and accepting other people. Understanding helps us to accept and acceptance helps us to understand, and as emotions, if not as ideas, they are often the same.

This is kinda a loaded question. There have been times in life where I have understood someone's reason for doing something, that doesn't mean I accept what they did. And there are other times where you have to accept something, but that doesn't mean you'll understand it. I mean I accept that gravity exists, but do I understand all of its principles, no, and I'm okay with that. The idea of understanding and acceptance are unique to everybody, and their life experiences.

I think it depends on the situation, particular who tells whatever it is to you. If they're trustworthy and knowledgeable, you will be more likely to accept what they tell you even if you don't understand it. This is a tricky question though. Sometimes you don't accept things even once you understand them.

I think one would have to understand something before accepting it.

who can track about how thoughts flow is a persons mind..both the the 2 factors may flicker..i had been to AA and i learnt the prayer "god give us serenity to accept things we cant change, courage to change things we can and wisdom to know the difference"...but before learning this i believed one had to understand things..now the 2 factors flicker in my mind

we have to understand first what and how was things going, for us to be able to accept. adopt first to the situation so that we learn how we will accept it.

you have to accept something in order to understand it and view it differently