August 16, 2009 Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
First Congregational Church in Thetford, Vermont, UCC
I Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14
What Is Wisdom?
Solomon was wise enough to ask God for an understanding mind.
The New World Dictionary of the American Language 2nd College Edition, 1980,
defines wisdom as:
"1. The quality of being wise; power of judging rightly and following the
soundest course of action, based on knowledge, experience, understanding,
etc.; good judgment; sagacity.
2. learning; knowledge; erudition (learning acquired by reading and
scholarship);
3. wise discourse or teaching
4. a wise plan or course of action"
All people are born with abilities, in different combinations.
All of us are different, but we are all created in the image of God. i.e.
with infinite potential and compassion.
We have senses-auditory, olfactory, taste, touch, sight, sense
of humor; physical strength-in varying combinations for each individual. And
curiosity-which leads to knowledge.
We each acquire knowledge in different ways: tactile or
kinesthetic, through touching things; auditory by listening (remember the
old adage that we have 2 ears, and 1 mouth!); visually by watching and
observing. As Yogi Berra once said, "Sometimes you can observe a lot by
watching."
Most of us acquire new information in a combination of ways. For
example, in 1954, when I was interning in elementary school, my master
teacher modeled the techniques of explaining an arithmetic lesson clearly,
while demonstrating on the chalk board as she was presenting the lesson.
Then she would bring out materials for the kids to manipulate and practice
what she had been telling and showing, and everyone would take part in
working with hands-on objects, like crayons or small blocks.
Barnes Boffey called it multi-sensory learning.
From the time we are small children, we learn from experience
(stove tops can be hot; snow is cold; water is wet; etc.) We have the
ability to make mistakes, and to learn from others mistakes as well as our
own. We'd better. We couldn't live long enough to make them all ourselves!
There is an old saying about teaching: "Tell me and I'll forget;
Show me and I'll remember; Involve me and I'll understand."
Teaching kids can be a joy and a challenge, as any parent or
teacher can testify. The word "Education" comes from the Latin "educo,
educere", to lead out of. What makes a teacher an educator rather than a
lecturer is the ability to cultivate each child's natural curiosity, and
bring out of each child, or student, those gifts he or she already has, and
to build on them. And in the process stimulate even more curiosity about how
and why things are the way they are, and how best we can use that knowledge.
The greatest questions kids can ask are "How?" and "Why?"
The accumulation of human knowledge is merely the discovery of
all those things God has put around us to enjoy and have dominion over, and
sharing that knowledge with others. I interpret that as meaning taking care
of the world and the people with whom we have contact, with compassion and
wisdom, using the knowledge we have accumulated over our lifetimes.
We need to communicate clearly with each other, with
understandable language. I fear for the future of our language when I see
the shortcuts people are using when they send text messages. That is not
real communication. It is a new Tower of Babel. In our search for truth, we
have to sift through quantities of information to find the truth. Such
language shortcuts impede the search.
We use each other's knowledge to create new things, hopefully
with a sense of responsibility. Just think of the advances in medicine,
science, communication, and other things that have occurred in our
lifetimes. My father was born the year before the Wright brothers flew at
Kittyhawk, and he saw (on TV) man land on the moon!
Language evolves to meet these rapid changes. But being able to
read great literature from many years ago is possible because we have a
common language. Yet we have the ability to learn the languages of other
people, and to appreciate their literature and history, and become wiser in
the process.
And just think how rapidly technology becomes outdated nowadays!
I remember having to create my own computer programs line by line, and
storing the data on a tape recorder! And using the TV for a monitor!
Nowadays people can buy a ready-made program and just pop it into the
computer or download something off the internet.
When I was in junior high, my father gave my mother an amazing
birthday present: a pen that didn't need to be refilled with ink. It was
called a "ball point pen." Wow.
We need to take a deep breath and consider the results of our
actions each and every day. Do we really need all those clothes? All that
stuff? When we buy something do we know how to take care of it? Do we
understand how it works? Where the components came from? Where it will end
up when we are through with it? Where our food comes from? We are lucky to
live in a place where so much of our food is locally grown. We need to make
wise decisions.
Ogden Nash once commented: "As our daily diet grows odder and
odder, It's a wise child that knows its own fodder."
We need to learn what others have learned, which is why we study history. We
need to know how other people manage to live in different places and other
climates, which is why we study geography. We need to understand the basics
of economics, so we can manage our resources wisely. We need to communicate
with people around the world so we can understand them, work with them, and
become closer to attaining world peace.
We individually can never know everything, which is why we need each other.
You probably have just the knowledge or ability that is needed by someone
else. Every day brings us more opportunities to share our gifts, learn new
things, and be awed by the marvelous complexity of the way the earth works.
Even the rocks and the sea make possible different kinds of life forms. And
all are related in some way to each other.
We have been given the dominion over God's earthly creation,
which I interpret as our being responsible for the wise use and care of
those things that share the planet with us. And the wise, compassionate care
of each other, no matter where on earth we live, as Jesus taught us to do.
Sermon 08/16/2009