Why wisdom is the most important of virtues

A quote from yoga class has been haunting me lately, maybe because I think it may be both true and relevant now. “Knowledge comes through learning; wisdom comes through living.”

The superiority of wisdom over the other virtues is always clear in scripture. Proverbs tells us to seek wisdom above all else. King Solomon is revered for the Lord’s gift of wisdom to him, much as we value the Dalai Lama’s wise sayings today.

If children are lucky, there is someone in their lives whom they consider wise and can go to for counsel and guidance, someone who can help them front up to life as it is. Perhaps it will be an older person who has lived through hard times and has emerged from them with the tolerance, empathy and ability to change that only experience brings.

The Gospels tell us that many people sought out Jesus for his reputed wisdom, perhaps hoping that he would give them an easy answer to their problems. But the adulterous woman and the rich young man instead received the hard, right – and wise – answer. “Go and sin no more” and “Go, sell what you have, and come follow me.” Each answer, while accepting the person as they were, also required them to permanently change their ways.

Scripture also tells us that the sinless Lord spent 30 years among us preparing for his ministry and his death. He put himself through the most arduous of regimens, emerging from his encounter with the devil in the desert as tough as a Mallee root, to take on the wily pharisees, the crass temple merchants, and all the well-meaning but reluctant believers like – well, us.

Living wisely takes a lot of courage. We are so used to a “near enough is good enough” approach, excusing our faults in the pursuit of an easier life. We are all so busy, there’s really no time to reflect on our behaviours, much less to change them. When the rare person – a Nelson Mandela or Mother Teresa – breaks through to true bravery and goodness, we rightly admire them, knowing in our hearts that there is no shortcut possible to their achievement. Like the Lord, they have put in the hard yards.

Unlike us, the truly wise person has fully accepted the wisdom of God as well as the fallibility of man. The natural laws that govern the universe are His, but the famines, wars, depressions, epidemics and natural disasters that stem from the neglect and abuse of them are ours.

But using the lessons from our time on earth to help build a better world in whichever ways life offers us truly reflects the wisdom of God.

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