Wisdom
(quick post...have to leave soon for class)
Wisdom. That is what i propose to you. What is it?! Its much more than knowledge, but it is not less. Something that i have noticed that when i comment in my friend Seth's blog, most of my reponces tend to be juvenille in comparison to alot of the other people there. I know most of this is due to the point i am one of the younger, if not the youngest, poster there. I have not lived or experianced as much as everybody else, but does that make my comments any less important? It was something that i ran into when i was dating Joey. I was looked down upon several times because i was young and "inexperianced". Wisdom, comes with experiance and age alike...but also respect. I remember when i was at a youth retreat in Alabama, and one of my adult leaders was trying to corner me with theology. The point he presented was if we are all called to be deciples of Christ and to preach to the masses...to convert (sow the harvest), why don't we do it? I answered, because we are not all called to be preachers. He then spewed out a Bible verse at me. I responded to him stating that, some of us are called to plant the seeds, others to nurture, and then others yet to harvest. He paused and looked at me, nodded and then walked off. Later that day, i told my youth paster at the time about that and he said, "thats interesting...there are not many times when a child can make an adult leader think." WHY?! Why is that? I was only 16 or so at the time, but how much of an effect did i have on that adult leader? Probally not much, but i pointed out a "flaw" in his thinking. Why is that so unusual? Did i have wisdom at that one moment, ordained by God? How can one learn and grow in wisdom if there is not a form of respect on either end of participants...the student and the teacher. So my question to you, is what is wisdom and where can it truly be found?
-Reijn
PS: the picture is "Allegory of Wisdom and Strength" by Paolo Veronese c. 1580
posted by Reijn of the Elfin Muse | 11:36 AM
6 Comments:
i feel the same way in english class, as though what i have to say isn't "good" enough. : / i get where you're coming from because i feel the same way. not felt, not have felt, but feel. present tense.
and... ah... all i have to say is that we are intelligent, rational beings just like all of the older students/ people, perhaps even MORE literate than previous generations who didn't place such stock in "higher education"-- we have outlooks and opinions on the same things as everyone else does, just they might seem simplified/ idealized in comparison. At this point. hey, we're still living. and so are they. things change, people's perceptions change. even when someone's on their death bed-- especially then, in fact-- he or she will be learning new things.
*shrugs* In the end, we haven't "been around" yet, so we don't have all the violently held opinions older people do. Or the cool way in which to frame them. (No doubt 50% of which they are repeating. Have you noticed how people will read/ hear something, think it's pretty neat, and then adopt it as a personal sort of mantra? fine. well, i have. and i'm not making it up, either. i do it, you probably do it, everyone does it. eventually we'll have an impressive repertoire to rival all those "oldies" and we'll hold some younger group of human mortals in our thrall.)
In the meantime we might as well call things as we see them. Fresh perspectives can be nice, as you discovered when you thwarted that amateur theologian at the tender age of 16. Sometimes it takes us "simpletons" to spy the flaws in others' complex hypotheses on life.
interesting, but my question is if people respect the "younger" generation then maybe this problem wouldn't be such a problem...but i could be wrong. I do also understand that respect comes by earning it...but shouldn't there be a level of innicial respect? Respecct of being a humanbeing with a perception and thought process?
Oh...i'll have most of saturday evening free...starting around 6 or so...SO! I'm going to give you a call Friday when i hit Austin.
We all have different experiences, making us grow in wisdom faster than others. It doesnt make anyone less important than what their worth. It takes a new set of eyes to help others see a new perspective on things, especially in theology. Everyone will have their opinion about things and the like. Its like the old saying goes, "Those who claim to have wisdom end up having none at all."
It is rather unfortunate that the wrong doings of a few have tarnished our whole generation. We get called things we dont like, but you must remember that you are not part of a statistic. You are an individual, capable of great things and imagine words and thoughts that will benefit the whole. There is also a level of respect where you may not like the person, but your not going to kill them or anything. You understand their human, and that maybe it.
Your right about one thing. God has chosen all of us to carry on certain aspects of life. I could even point you to the verses that say that if you like. Oh by the way, whats that about the 4,100 viewer? Cause I got it. :P
Give me a call when you get a chance. My phone is always open for you girl. :D
yeah! TIGER!!! blog comming soon!
Haha, what superior has ever respected an inferior?
I think that's what you're proposing?
Respect is a nice idea, but it doesn't come naturally. We respect them because they're older; they ignore us because-- well, partly because they can-- but also because they're preoccupied with getting ahead.
Imagine that we are all hikers on the great road of life. (cliche, yeah yeah, whatev) People are spread out along the trail. Those behind have no choice but to follow those in front (inarguable), but those in front have a choice whether or not to acknowledge, or perhaps even wait for, those behind.
Perhaps there SHOULD be some sort of initial and equalizing respect between strangers, regardless of factors like age-- but hell. That isn't human nature. That isn't natural period, really. The concept can be argued morally, of course-- but nature seems to be built on hierarchy. And what dominant alpha has ever shown respect towards a pup? A certain degree of protection, yes, and affection-- and almost definitely more depending on the specific relationship... But the "more" is far from belonging to the lesser by right.
Supremely unfair, but, according to my sociology teacher, the cookie crumbles this way and so... too bad for you. (Happily, our station of youth is not as concrete a stigma as several others in American society I could name.)
Does that answer your argument? (How unprofessional is THIS ending to my little essay? ha)I am, of course, playing devil's advocate, and I'm way over-generalizing, but isn't the essence of my argument true?
interesting aspect, and i totally understand what you are saying and it makes sense.
But as humans do we forget that we were those inferior creatures at some point?! Obviously so. So why do we all strive to act like children again, go to Disney World, watch cartoons, and play in sand? We want our cake and eat it too. We want youth but we don't want the "hardships" that come along with it.
Are we so quick to forget?!
Post a Comment
<< Home