What does it mean to be wise? Does it mean that I simply know everything, that I possess all the knowledge I could ever gain? If so, I'm definitely not wise. Traveling in a foreign country has made this fact evident to me. Not only do I not speak the language, but I am also ignorant of many aspects of the culture. I feel guilty expecting shopkeepers and waiters alike to speak my language when I am the foreigner. How selfish and foolish does this make me? If I were truly wise, would I be able to communicate with these people in their own tongue?
So maybe wisdom isn't just about gaining all the knowledge I possibly can. What then can we say that it is? Is wisdom the ability to make good decisions? In that case I supposed I may be considered wise most of the time, but not always. Instead of eating ice cream for dessert tonight, it probably would have been a smarter choice to eat the orange, but I just couldn't resist.
So what really is wisdom? How can I determine whether or not I am truly wise? Maybe the best revealer of wisdom is interaction with other people. If we agree with the author of the Wisdom of Solomon, then wisdom is understood to be an emanation from God, similar to what Christians think of as the Holy Spirit or even as grace. In this way, if to be wise is to be filled with the grace of God, then shouldn't a wise person also be kind and loving? Perhaps wisdom allows us the ability to understand how to treat other people. In this case, I know that I try my hardest to be wise but sometimes it's difficult. I wonder if wisdom is an all or nothing type of deal. Can I just be partially wise or is it righteous or wicked with no in between? I'd like to believe that I am on the path toward wisdom, but I will always be seeking it.
comments:
There are currently no comments.
Post a Comment