"You don't know what you don't know when you're young.” (and sometimes old - added by N. Turley) (The original quote is from Lots Of Candles, Plenty Of Cake, Advice to My Younger Self by Anna Quindlen)
"A wise (wo)man will hear and increase with learning. And a (wo)man of understanding will acquire wise counsel.”
"A wise (wo)man will hear and increase with learning. And a (wo)man of understanding will acquire wise counsel.”
"For the Lord gives wisdom; from
his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the
upright.”
“Keep sound wisdom and discretion. So
they will be life to your soul.”
“All her paths are peace. She is tree of life to those who take hold of her and happy are all who hold her fast.”
Proverbs.1:5,
2:6-7a, 3:21b-22a; and 3:17 , 18a (NASV)
”If any of you lacks
wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault,
and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt…”
James 1:5.
6a (NIV)
Recently I attended a
Lunch and Learn seminar sponsored by our safety department at work. The title
was “Cause Mapping.” The hook for the seminar was, “Do you know the reason the
Titanic sank?” Most of us immediately went to the main cause—that the ocean
cruiser ran into an iceberg—as well as a few other explanations, but what
surprised all of us was, in the end, 123 reasons were found to be causes
or the “whys?” that so many lives were lost when this ship sank.
The discussion was fascinating as we further
learned that had just one or two of these causes been fixed or paid heed to in
the earlier time line of what led to the Titanic’s demise, the ship may not
have sunk and so many lives been lost. Had the bulkhead been sealed correctly,
had the SS Californian responded earlier, had the rudders been fashioned to
turn more quickly, had there not been such arrogance of the designer and
captain that this ship was “unsinkable”—many, or all, of those 1523 lives would
not have perished.
Lately I’ve been pondering about other “sinking
causes”—people or things that seem to be sinking or situations where the ship
is heading towards an iceberg about to tear a big hole in lives or already has.
To what degree does the universal and Biblical
adage of “what you sow, you will reap” create a pathway that cannot be
reversed? To what degree do earlier choices pave that more problematic life pathway
that then makes it so hard to make a turn-about? Is there a statute of
limitations on how soon we have to turn around before it’s too late to alter
present life circumstances, to realize the potential God created us for?
The law of cause and effect can’t be easily
overruled just because we are sorry later on. I want to understand my own, and
others, “cause mapping.” I want to
understand the root causes of behaviors, the whys of our journeys. But much more than that, I want to see hope despite the small and big ships
that have sunk in our lives. In the midst of negative circumstances caused
by wrong, ignorant or even innocent choices we made along the way. I want to
see grace override that and see how God
is weaving it for good. I
want wisdom for us to navigate in the midst of our present journeys. I want to see a redemptive ending despite difficult
current pathways.
I do think years of life can add wisdom, but even
in our more “mature” age we still are figuring out that “we don’t know what we
don’t know.” And some 20 and 30 year olds have much more wisdom at their age
than I ever had at that age (or may ever have).
How did they get that? How do any of us obtain wisdom and where does
that start? How, does one gain
understanding that provides a reason to keep going and hopefully, have some
kind of happier ending?
In the case of the Titanic, for those that
survived, it was because they had access to the lifeboats and were fortunate to
be able to climb aboard, or others held onto a buoyant part of the blown apart boat,
or perhaps had the stamina to tread water longer than others and they lived
long enough to be pulled in when thrown a lifesaver.
For those of us who are drowning or feel like we are
sinking, there is another lifesaving tool, that story twist that can still
give us a “happy ending.” It’s when we ask for wisdom from God who says
He’ll generously give it to us. But before that can happen, it seems we
first have to see our part in our demise (or our need for something beyond
ourselves), and admit that God is the author of the wisdom we need. It’s a
cross-roads place of faith that truly trusts God has our backs, where we
truly expect an answer. And to be able to walk in that happier ending we need
to accept and act on the wisdom given.
Regardless
of the causes, it’s when we swim towards the lifesaver God throws
out to us or climb aboard the lifeboat, that we receive grace and start the
journey towards gaining understanding.
I love
that wisdom brings life to our souls and that its paths are peace. I love that
wisdom is like a tree of life and thus promises a fruitful future—that acting
on what we know we need to do (or not do), will put us on a forward path
again. That, despite the cause, or how deeply sunk we may feel, there is a
lifeboat to bring us back to firm land.
And
for those of us praying for others whose rudders are not turning fast enough to
avoid looming icebergs: perhaps our prayer should be that they are led to
a point to cry out for rescue and ask for wisdom. Because then...they (and
we) have the opportunity by learning and acquiring wise
counsel, to get to the place of practicing more of what
we then know we know.
And, the
further good news is that "God gives grace to those who are
afflicted." (Proverbs 3:34 -NASB). He does not have a statute of
limitations if we call on Him to help us. He can turn around and
redeem the difficult circumstances of our lives and work them all together for
good.
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