In year six of my seven-year journey of restoration I was overtaken by the desire to obtain wisdom. I knew deep in my soul that wisdom would be required for navigating my re-entry into the Garden. But what is wisdom, really? Most people would say it comes with experience and includes having a storehouse of knowledge to enable one to make sound judgements. All that is true but I think there is more to wisdom than meets the eye. Wisdom by definition includes a spiritual dimension. Wisdom is rooted in faith and produces an awareness and certainty of things unseen. It illuminates our path to reveal God’s best for our lives, and it serves as a sword cutting through the moral veil to reveal the motivations and thoughts of the inner man. Wisdom is as important to us as oxygen and essential if we are to live a Godly, authentic and abundant life.
Over the years I’ve learned that acquiring and expressing “spiritual wisdom” requires that one lead with the mind, and not emotions. To illustrate this point, picture a train. Wisdom is the engine, fueled by truth, and emotions are the caboose. Why is this order so important you may ask? Because emotions are feelings and indicators of what we believe, while wisdom is a virtue and grounded in philosophical conviction. So while emotions are clearly important and reflect who we are as individuals, they can sometimes miss the mark when we need guidance to make a decision. For many of us life experience has shown that emotions are also susceptible to undue influence from others, and the Enemy, who do not have our best interests at heart. Too much of this undue influence can confuse us to the point that we lose perspective and end up thinking that up is down and down is up. All this to say that we need to be careful about what is feeding our emotions, and that our emotions should not override wisdom which can cause us to make hasty and irrational decisions.
So here in lies the bottom line when it comes to our need for wisdom, especially spiritual wisdom. It will help us navigate the Wasteland and sidestep many of its detours and traps; it will help us discern ethical absolutes and how best to apply them in varying situations, it will help define our core relationships and produce inner character; and, it will be our directional compass that leads us back home to the Garden
So be wise — and pursue the search for wisdom!
Dario L. Perla