Translating a World on the Edge

By Clarita, 2006, MorgueFile Photo

Aren’t you amazed at the brilliance of people around us? Smart people who push advances along in science, technology, medicine, physics, and a multitude of so much more.

But are these people necessarily wise?

Intelligence is not the same as wisdom.

Think of someone you consider wise. A parent, or grandparent? A counselor or teacher? A spiritual leader? Do you think they became wise because of their brilliant minds? Or is there something else that makes a person truly wise?

A person may be born with genes of high intelligence. But we are not born with wisdom. We discover wisdom for ourselves, usually after a journey through something dire, a path which must be our own–no one can take it for us.

Is there a better teacher of compassion than one’s own experience of hard times? Is there a better way to learn humility than to make a mistake?

When we face an adverse situation, such as illness or the death of a loved one, we often think about what LIFE actually means.

Of course, not ALL people grow wise from hard times–some grow mean, bitter, and revengeful. So what is the difference?

Could it be spiritual grounding, our belief in God who loves us, who shows us the way, and graces us with strength enough to cope with, and conquer, difficult circumstances?

Today, there may be loads of brilliant people, and surely we have many more advancements in all fields, but in our long history as human beings, it is only wisdom, coming by way of spiritual grounding, that allows us to advance through our struggles.

The following is a very old song, written in 1851 by Stephen Foster, who is known as “The Father of American Music.”