On Wisdom

The other day in Swahili we read a story about knowledge vs wisdom.
It went something like this:

There were 3 learned men. They were very well educated and had a lot of knowledge. They had a friend who was not as educated - but who was very wise. One day the 3 men decided to go for a walk in the jungle in the hope of finding some way to show their knowledge. 2 of the men did not want to invite their wise friend. They looked down on him because he had little education. But the third man said "lets invite him" so the others agreed.
When they were walking in the jungle they found the skin and bones of a lion. The 3 learned men said to each other - "we can bring this lion back to life" - they thought to themselves it would show their knowledge and skill. But the wise friend warned them that it was not a smart thing to do. They did not listen to him - so he climbed up a tree.
The first man but the bones together.
The second man put the skin over the bones.
The third brought the lion back to life.
No sooner had the lion come alive than it ate them!
only the wise man was safe.


that great story got me thinking about things. Wisdom is difficult to come by these days. Our mwalimu (professor) often shares his opinions and lessons from his own life (eg a woman can ask a man why he took so long - but a man should NEVER ask a woman that!!). Sometimes he shares opinions which may be considered offensive. He is not being offensive, or discriminatory. He is teaching us. Some people get upset but I'm really glad that he does this. So many teachers are soo afraid to be offensive that they go tooo far the other direction - and never teach anything outside of their subject. So that instead of there being a dialogue, a selection of opinions with which we can interact, and learn from - there is only a silence surrounding our academic subjects. And since older members of the society hardly interact with the younger ones there is little wisdom sharing outside of the classroom (when's the last time you had story telling time with your grandparents or parents or older next door neighbours??)....
so the question is
where can we get wisdom??

since I'm talking about sharing our wisdom, I'll share what the Bible says about where Wisdom comes from

Job says (Job28:20-28)
"Where then does wisdom come from? Where does understanding come from?
It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing...
God understands the way to it and he alone knows where it dwells...
And he said to man,
'The fear of the Lord - that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.'"

tulip