THEY ARE ON the way! No, I don’t mean late-arriving Christmas presents or returns of ill-fitting clothes. I mean the Three Wise Men. They won’t arrive in Bethlehem until Jan. 6 though, Epiphany Day. Being wise, they let holiday travel settle a bit. It’s so hard to find parking for an entourage of camels, you know.
I’m thinking we are all going to need an extra dose of wisdom this coming year.
Apparently finding “wisdom” or learning to be wiser is on a lot of people’s minds, too, from what I found on the internet.
I found postings like the “The 3 Most Practical Methods For Acquiring Wisdom, According to Confucius” and “5 Techniques to Develop Wisdom Over Time.” Postings ranged from self-help organizations and people to academic institutions like the University of Chicago’s Center for Practical Wisdom, to even a newsletter from Travelers Insurance.
Each of these organizations or people had insights into the wisdom quest, but I found the book by Dr. Francis Collins especially helpful. His book’s title, “The Road to Wisdom,” is subtitled “On truth, science, faith, and trust.”
As a refresher, Collins recently retired as the head of the National Institutes of Health, a job that required a lot of wisdom, I’m sure. Among Collins’ many scientific accomplishments was leading the international team that completed the first complete DNA map of how all 3 billion letters of our DNA are sequenced to keep us alive and where many of our diseases lurk.
Collins’ book is not a CliffsNotes on becoming wiser. He is quite personal about his “Non-linear Life Journey in Search of Wisdom.” Collins writes from his own experience that “one can know the truth but not be wise in acting on it.”
“Wisdom,” he continues, “includes understanding and incorporating a moral framework, which guides judgement about decisions in complex situations when the path is not clear.”
Over the years, he found there are fundamental questions that science is not capable of answering. For him, faith fills that gap. But he also writes, “faith has no meaning, has no effect on character and provides no window to wisdom, unless it’s based upon truth.”
He provides some guidelines on that, too, from his own experiences. His last chapter summarizes his faith quest and includes a call to join him in a commitment to walk the road to wisdom with him.
If you don’t have time to read the good doctor’s book, you can read The Good Book’s passage from James in the New Testament.
James 1:5 is as simple as it gets, “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.”
That’s a gift from God that will keep on giving through the whole year.
No need for returns. The fit is always perfect and is just what we all need.
Don’t forget to write a thank you note, though. If you don’t have the words, pray for some. I bet some wise words will come.
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Issues of Faith is a rotating column by religious leaders on the North Olympic Peninsula. Don Corson is an Ordained Deacon in the Lutheran Church (ELCA) and the winemaker for a local winery. He is also the minister for Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Forks. His email is ccwinemaker@gmail.com.
