the words ‘wise’ and ‘elder’ are often spoken and written together. what is truly meant by ‘wise’? is someone wise simply because she’s lived 70 or 80 or more years?
is someone wise simply because he has more experience in a particular field? is someone wise simply because youngers need role models so anyone over 50 (or is it 30?) will do?
in my own search for the answers to these questions i have been led to explore the idea of qualities, rather than quantities. today i want to explore the path of acceptance of uncertainty and the unknown, in order to see that acceptance as a quality of a wise elder.
it seems clear that the knowledge we have acquired over decades does not lead to wisdom, nor does it lead to acceptance of the unknown or the ability to live with uncertainty.
in recent months our lives have been radically transformed by two glaring events…a global pandemic and a global response to inequality. no matter how much we might have known about health and wellbeing, or about racial inequities, we could not have foreseen their collision.
wisdom isn’t about the knowledge we possess. it is about how we see and it allows us to see differently. wisdom is expressed when we can see through the lens of meaning in our lives and when our actions, however small or large, promote the wellbeing of all, contributing to the common good.
wisdom is a manifestation of the heart.
the heart allows for paradox, for the unexpected, for the arrival of the unknwn in headlines from around the world. it encourages us to explore love, suffering and connection to one another and to something greater than ourselves…whatever we might call it.
wisdom, and wise people, holds opposites, the energies we might logically see as incompatible. there is often no 'sensible' path in the world we inhabit. however, there is a path of the heart, a path where we see with the eyes of an eagle.
we can then take in the broad view, the larger picture. this picture might include difference and challenge.
wise people don’t need to be right, having the answer to every issue. wise ones accept uncertainty. wise ones are willing to explore, with open hearts, the painful places in themselves and thereby, might accompany others in that exploration. wise ones accept the uncertainty and challenge of life with a willingness to face their fears and to look into the aspects of themselves that might be hidden.
then the light of awareness can be the guide to the wise one.