*Happy Belated birthday Sappho, I hope you had a wonderful one*
Ok so I wrote this one on my birthday - almost 2 months ago - but it's still true.
Thank you Lord for 26 years!!
I had a great day. My unit sang us Happy Birthday (another student and teacher had their birthday this week) and another teacher made a smashing chocolate cake.
All sorts of people remembered and called or wrote.
And I had a revelation this morning which made the day good.
(*Disclaimer* This revelation is an eyeopener. Do not continue reading if you still believe in Santa Clause, the Tooth Fairy or other magical occurrences)
Today I realised that my birthday is just an ordinary day.
I usually think of it as a magical day, full of wonder and pleasant surprises. A day when I have a special glow and am entitled to every special treatment: Breakfast in bed, flowers delivered to my door, a candle light dinner, a huge cake specially marked and at least 3 wonderful renditions of the Birthday song. And most importantly, all my friends and close family must remember to call, and if they don't I have every right to be upset.
Needless to say- I've had a lot of crushingly disappointing birthdays.
But today - after my paradigm shift I realised that it is just an ordinary day. Don't get me wrong: it's still the best day of the year and should be declared a national holiday (obviously). But if you have stuff going on and forgot, or if you haven't highlighted the day on all your calenders, I shouldn't take it personally. I can have a great day pleasant surprises or no.
And a great day was certainly had.
heart, Tulip
Showing posts with label Wisdom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wisdom. Show all posts
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Monday, April 09, 2007
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
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
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