I don’t feel old. I see the world and myself like I am still 25 or 30. Now, I will confess that the mirror and my driver’s license tell a different story. That kind of honesty is tough to take, but heck I am past 60 so it is a truth I have to live with. I notice the differences though, I have to be wise about how I do my martial arts, work in the yard, live life each day. That is wisdom, to work smarter not harder.
From a martial arts viewpoint, the day you get to black belt is your birthday. From then on, it is about wisdom, about how to be more effective and efficient. I think the same is true in education. I learned that my bachelor’s degree simply gave me a platform to know enough to study more. The master’s provided depth to my knowledge. Then, to my amazement, the Ph.D. is where I examined the foundation of it all, the wisdom if you will, of my entire field. I guess that is why achieving my doctorate was humbling, I suddenly realized how little I really had ever known.
I think the Christian path is the same. In Proverbs, we learn of Wisdom, called by many the Hagia Sophia. In Proverbs, it says that Wisdom was the first of all creation. That makes sense if you think about it. You have to have a point of view before you begin any work. Even God needed a point of view, a wisdom about what he was doing. Paul talks about seeing the tough things that happen to us from a point of view, a wisdom, that tells us that God makes good on all promises and goes with us through it all. This is a choice we make, just like God, as to how we will see the world.
I have two dear friends that lost their son to a murder. I cannot imagine the incredible pain they are experiencing. They both love God and when I saw my friend, he said it “comes and goes”. I know them both to be people of deep faith and though I know I cannot help with the pain, I do know they will not be alone in this time of hurt. That renews my faith, knowing they will be loved by the Eternal beyond any mortal thing I can do for them.
And, that is wisdom, to choose a view that says even when horrible things happen, I choose to see a world that is filled with goodness, joy, beauty, and pain, hurt, tragedy. Wisdom of these sixty plus years tells me that how I view the world is my choice. I did not start that way, but by being told how I “had to” see the world as a Christian. I don’t do well with have tos. As a contemplative, a mystic, I have learned that have tos are a way to control others, a blind alley bereft of wisdom. No, instead, the mystery is that the Eternal will never, ever abandon us.
Jesus was the embodiment of both logos, the Word, and the Hagia Sophia, the wisdom. It is why all were attracted to Him. Yes, they either were threatened by him or drawn to his Love, but they were attracted. We are called to embody both the word and the wisdom. To do good in this world, but to be wise about it. The word, without wisdom (a world view, innocent as a child) is simply rules. Jesus came to the world to say, it is not a list of commandments but a way to see the Eternal and the world. Through the eyes of love. It is a choice, to be wise.
TMM