“Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?” (T S Eliot)
Reading those words, it is difficult to believe that they were written nearly a century ago. The closest people got to a database in those days was in a library or from a shelf at home crammed with a multiple volume encyclopaedia.
Figures from 2024 show how humanity is awash with data. It is estimated that every minute 251,100,000 emails and 18,800,000 text messages are sent and 5.9 million Google searches and over 2 million Facebook posts are made.
Information is vital because we know that ignorance is not bliss, but information is of limited value on its own without the wisdom to use it! The book of Proverbs is a book about wisdom and how to find it.
If you want to know the difference between knowledge and wisdom, all you need to do is think about a tomato. Knowledge tells us that a tomato is a fruit, but wisdom tells us not to put it into a fruit salad!
God made us to be on the same page as him — but humanity ripped the page out of the book. God has been rewriting the script so that we can get back on the same page as him again. The wisdom that the Book of Proverbs serves up for us give us a path to wisdom that can give us what we need to navigate life.
“A person is not born with wisdom: it is a learned quality. It is not a spur of the moment decision to try to be a wise person. It is a process of training …An individual might pick up a violin and try to play it but won’t get very far. Even a gifted musician is limited to mediocrity without practice. An individual must train to play it through instruction, regular and disciplined practice, listening to experienced violinists, going to concerts, and living within a music culture. There is a big difference between trying to play a violin and training to play it.” (Bland and Freer)
I was thinking about this when watching the 38-year-old tennis player Novac Djokovic appear to breeze into the fourth round at Wimbledon.
Before the match the BBC put together a video mash up of interviews with Djokovic over the years. He consistently spoke about the importance of training. It is a case of doing the same thing again and again till perfected!
The book of Proverbs reminds us that wisdom is not gained by being complacent.
“Let the wise listen and add to their learning and let the discerning get guidance.” (Proverbs 1:3)
I guess that learning to listen is the secret for progress in many areas of life.
Those who foolishly do not listen tend to only hear the echo of their own words.
Preachers cannot afford to be stuck in that echo chamber. If we are going to speak wisely we need to cultivate the art of listening.
We need to listen to God, fellow Christians and the culture in which we life.