Читать книгу Passages for Inner Peace - Tom McKinley - Страница 12
Оглавление“My mouth shall speak of wisdom;
And the meditation of my heart
shall be of understanding.”
(Psalm 49:3, KJV)
Wisdom is praised throughout the Bible. It is considered one of the most worthy traits that we can have, along with kindness, generosity, and humility. To be wise increases our inner peace. But what exactly is wisdom, and how do we get it?
Wisdom is a multi-dimensional quality: it is the combination of knowledge, good judgment, empathy, and the depth of experience. It differs from knowledge, which is really just a one-dimensional asset. Put simply, knowledge is superficial, but wisdom is deep.
At present, in 2020, we live in an age of knowledge, but not of wisdom. The data-driven nature of our age is trying to convince us that knowledge – that is, just having sheer facts and statistics – is wisdom. This error leads to people thinking that they “know” someone purely because of his Google Search history and buying preferences. With anxiety levels at their highest in history, and happiness levels dropping significantly over the past 25 years, knowledge on its own is clearly not making us happier!
Gathering wisdom has been a challenge for mankind since the dawn of thinking, and there is no exact path to its acquisition. Unlike learning most subjects, for example mathematics, there is no step-by-step timeline, no textbook, to gaining wisdom. Nonetheless, through the ages, several fundamentals have been established. Wisdom starts with humility: according to Psalm 111:10 (KJV), “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” and we see this echoed in Proverbs 9:10. One cannot have the good judgment and understanding that comes with wisdom without having the humility that comes with fearing and worshipping God.
