By Baldmichael Theresoluteprotector’sson
27th May, 2022
I thought I would post this. It is a page I put on my site a while back. I think it might contain some wisdom! It might even be mildly amusing if you need amusing. It is not very long.
20th September 2020
What is wisdom? Very simple. It’s in the name. The first two letters, wi. Which sounds like ‘why’. A wise person is someone who asks why, and keeps asking, even into old age. An inquisitive mind.
And like the 2-3 year olds. ‘Why, daddy, why?’, ‘But why?’, ‘Why is water wet?’
That last ones a tough one. All being well, daddy will do his best to answer. If he doesn’t know then he can just say that. ‘I don’t know darling, daddy doesn’t know everything I’m afraid’.
Of course the child might then ask ‘Why don’t you know everything daddy?’. ‘Because I am not God, dearest.’ could be his reply.
‘Does God know everything daddy?’ ‘Err, yes, I suppose he must do.’ says daddy.
So the question is, if you lack wisdom, who do you go to? Daddy, a friend, the internet? I imagine lots of people prefer the later nowadays. What about God, whoever He may be? Can He be asked?
Proverbs are ‘words put forward’ for consideration. And the book of Proverbs in the Bible is a good place to start. In chapter 4 verse 7 it says ‘The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.’
In the New Testament it says in the Letter of James ‘If any of you lacks wisdom you should ask God’. The following link is useful with a selection of verses from the scriptures.
https://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/wisdom-bible-verses/
They include ‘Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?’ Yes, it generally does, although there are exceptions, sadly.
Some people never learn, that is they learn but don’t take the lesson to heart and do what is necessary.
Also ‘When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.’ The humility to ask questions, even if it makes you look an idiot. If you don’t know, just ask. Better that than get something wrong and look a complete idiot.
And ‘How much better to get wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver!’. It seems obvious that you can’t take it with you when you die, so why waste your time accumulating gold, silver or an account full of big numbers?
The list also includes ‘For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.’ Perhaps you find some of what I say elsewhere is foolish. My messing around with words.
But who is the author of words if not God himself? And Jesus Christ who is the Word of God according to the Gospel of John in the Bible.
Of course, there is plenty of wisdom outside of the Bible. Take Wisden’s Cricketers’ Almanack, described as the ‘bible of cricket’. All you need to know about cricket I suppose. Not, of course, all you can know. That would be impossible.
I see there was an editor of the publication called Sydney Pardon. ‘What?’ I said Pardon. You can imagine the jokes. While watching a match at Lord’s a son says to his hard-of- hearing father ‘I say, pater, did you see that corker of a catch from young Blenkinsopp?’
As the crowd is clapping, the father can’t hear and says ‘Pardon?’. And Sydney sitting behind says ‘Yes?’.
Or when Sydney was going to the interview for the post of editor, it might have gone like this.
‘Thank you for coming today. Could you tell us your name, please’
‘Pardon’
‘I said, could you tell us your name.’
‘Pardon’
‘I said could you tell us your name!’
‘Pardon, my name is Sydney Pardon.’
Anyway, Wisden’s Almanack is, amongst other things, a calendar of events from the last cricketing year. Which leads me on to…
Calendar Girls. A film based on a true story and according to Wikipedia ‘…based on a true story of a group of middle-aged Yorkshire women who produced a nude calendar to raise money for Leukaemia Research under the auspices of the Women’s Institutes in April 1999 after the cancer death of the husband of one of their members.’
Why is this related to wisdom? Only because Women’s Institutes is abbreviated to W.I, the first letters of wisdom as my wife once pointed out to me.
And it seems there is a lot of wisdom in the W.I., a lot of quiet, unseen wisdom. It is not just ‘Jam and Jerusalem’. My mother was part of a local branch. Whilst the W.I. is a women’s only organisation , “Anyone who is living as a woman is welcome to join the WI and to participate in any WI activities in the same way as any other woman”.
That’s from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_Institutes
How about living with a women? That wouldn’t be sexist then. Or perhaps men should put dresses on and try and join. Just to make a point.
I think the W.I. has lost some wisdom along the line. In the beginning God made man(kind) male and female, not transgender etc.
And the beginnings of the W.I. was in the Women’s Guilds started in the Church of Scotland. Which was at a time when the Church of Scotland believed in God and His Word, unlike today.
So perhaps, they, the W.I, the Church of Scotland, and indeed all of us should go looking for wisdom.
And ask God.
P.S. I have added these paragraphs recently (5th April 2021) as I am a bit slow sometimes. I should have thought a bit about the ‘dom’ of wisdom. dom is short for dominus, as in Latin for Lord or in French ‘sieur’. In English ‘Sir’, but without the EU of course!!
Who is the Lord? Well, there is Jesus Christ. Try Him. He said He and the Father are one.
Who is the Father? He is the heavenly Father, the God and Father of us all.
So again I repeat, if you lack wisdom go ask God. If He is busy He will ask one or more of His angels to help you. He would love to answer all of you personally but He can’t, which is why sometimes it looks as though He is not listening.
But He did write it all down in a book called the Bible. You will find lots in there if you search and keep asking why. And because He is not limited to one book, He wrote other things elsewhere like the constellations of heaven and the creation generally.
I will explain more elsewhere in due course. Do keep a look out if you are interested.
And if you want to know why water is wet, try this. It may amuse you.
The Tree of Life 