Wisdom & Light

Paul: Where is the wise man? Where is the arguer of this age? Has not God made the world's wisdom foolish?
[1 Corinthians 1:20]





Jesus: There is light within a man of light, and he enlightens the world.
[Gospel of Thomas 24]



Paul, as an evangelist, spent much of his time trying to spread his faith and discovered that the Jews would only believe if they experienced signs and wonders -- miracles, undeniably extraordinary events; whilst the Greeks and Romans expected clever arguments and persuasive logic. He therefore came to the conclusion that to the world of men the gospel was dull in its ordinariness and foolish in its message.
  Yet, as we know, the faith spread and thrived. Time and time again as we read the New Testament texts, a picture emerges of a community that is at odds with the world around it; on important points this community is  literally extra-worldly: a fact crystallised in Paul's insistence to the Roman community that they don't conform to the world system but think differently and a consequence live different lives. 
  And so they did. Their economic approach arose out of Jesus' parable about the generous capitalist in Matthew 20. They taught that a woman's beauty is not in braided hair and fashionable clothings but in good deeds and character; they stressed that a man should be known for his gentleness, not his aggression; they avoided political debates and didn't follow the latest celebrity gossip of the day. In gently correcting each other, they taught by example that love is not an adjective but a verb; not a feeling, but a doing; and ultimately they eschewed talking the talk, promoting walking the walk instead.


In writers' language, this is show, not tell. Saying "Lord, Lord" and "God bless you" doesn't fill an empty belly or help repair a dilapidated dwelling. These communities didn't discuss wisdom but lived it. In short, they became wisdom; that is, their lives revealed the extent of their transformation by God and their difference from the world. As Jesus expressed it in the Gospel of Thomas 24: people of light enlighten the space around them.

In short, you don't possess wisdom; you become wisdom, as demonstrated in the way you live your life.

This is important to understand, especially for us, we dwellers in a world of seemingly unlimited knowledge -- the so-called Information Age. Knowledge is not wisdom. Increasingly we see this confusion proliferating in students' and researchers' work: someone will google a search topic, find a relevant article, and simply present that article as an answer; yet the topic will not have been understood. Jesus was wisdom, just as a skilled carpenter understands intuitively how to craft a piece of furniture. Wisdom and Light; qualities expressed from the core of being.

Be Original

Wendy Taylor: Brick Knot - 1977-8

Every moment in business happens only once... Bill Gates, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Mark Zuckerberg... If you are copying these guys, you aren’t learning from them
Peter Thiel, Zero to One

Do not conform to the ways of this world but let your whole being be transformed by a renewal of your minds
Paul, Romans 12:2

If those who lead you say unto you: Behold, the Kingdom is in heaven, then the birds of the heavens will be before you. If they say unto you: It is in the sea, then the fish will be before you. But the Kingdom is within you, and it is outside of you. When you know yourselves, then shall you be known, and you shall know that you are the sons of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you are in poverty, and you are poverty
Jesus, Gospel of Thomas 3

[Source: Apple]

There were once two cats on a ship. As soon as the ship got into open ocean, one cat jumped overboard and into the sea. How many cats were left?

None. The other cat was a copycat.

Even though we are all originals -- even 'identical' twins -- most of us live unoriginal lives: we are followers rather than leaders; we are consumers rather than producers; we are copycats rather than individuals capable of creative action.

[Source: Grammarly]

The process begins as soon as we are born. We encounter a world that already exists, and that world, and all the people in it, starts giving us its opinions and habits and views and prejudices and practices and very soon we are so chock-full of what we've been given that that comes to define who we are. We don't think differently; worse, we often don't realise that there is a way to think differently.

Most go through their entire lives living this delusion; others who discover what's happening often sink into a despair so desperate that it's almost nihilism:

Philip Larkin's poem, This Be The Verse, and

Pink Floyd's song, Another Brick In The Wall,

are two of the most celebrated English 

artworks

of the twentieth Century



But everything now clichéd and commonplace was once an original thought. Current fashions like twerking and sagging were once innovative ideas. Phrases like couch potato and blaze of glory were once memorable examples of creative writing. What is needed is a way to clean the blackboards of our minds, a way to clear away all the junk and nonsense that we've been fed.

Paul described it as a transforming renewal. Indeed it is; another way to describe it is to call it meditation.

Meditation is different from prayer. Prayer is petitioning, asking for things; meditation is simply a way to clear the mind's junk. Here's a simple way to meditate:

Sit comfortably, relaxed.

Close your eyes and say to yourself, let me be a blessing to others and not a curse
may peace and compassion fill my heart and mind.

Then notice your breath, observe it as you breathe in and also as you breathe out.

If any thoughts come into your mind, smile at them but don't follow them; let them pass and gently return your focus to your breathing.

Do this for about five minutes.

That's it.

Make this your daily practice, and over time your life will change. You will become more aware of yourself and the thoughts that come to your mind; and gradually you will clean the blackboard and return to your original nature.