Thursday, November 6
The beginning of wisdom is this, get wisdom, and whatever else you get, get insight.
—Proverbs 4:5
Although I would
never advocate cheating or plagiarism, it took but a second to see that he was
right.
Today's verse has several starting points. The
first is that wisdom has a beginning. We are not born with wisdom.
We must attain it. And, like many things in life, the acquisition of
wisdom is never fully completed. Over and over again we must make it a
priority. It matters not if we attain it from experience, from friends,
from clergy, from
worship or from
books.
Each of my
children has now reached the 25-year mark. There were times during their
teenage years that wisdom seemed to be in short supply in our home. We
were concerned. Were they ever going to learn? Why were we so often
at sixes and sevens?
But then, as time passed, an entirely new
relationship began with each one of them. Suddenly we were sharing life,
talking about what we had learned, and sharing our insights. There was
less and less to prove, and more and more to share.
"I
remember when I realized," we began to say. "I didn't know," we
added. "I learned what I should and shouldn't trust," they would
say. The conversations were not always easy, but they were always
meaningful, as the search for truth always is. Oftentimes they are laced
with humor.
Whenever I see twin baby
strollers at an
airport, and a mother or father who is
utterly pre-occupied with navigating flights, family and crowds, I invariably go
up to them and say, "You're going to make it! We had twins too. They've
grown! I don't know how, but
they've made it and so have we!" We smile and break into a
laugh.
The writer of Proverbs gives sage advice. We all start out
with a set of assumptions. And then, along the way, we "get" wisdom.
As we do, there are insights to share. We may even find that sometimes
wisdom is no more, and no less, than a word of
encouragement.
Thank you God, for being patient with us as we learn what is true and what is not true, and as we grow in wisdom from whatever our experiences may have been. In all things, you are the teacher—and in all things we give you thanks. Amen.