Tuesday, November 25, 2008
My first blog...Wisdom, Change, and Suffering
I am prone to addictive behaviors, so I try to avoid them. I do not play golf, poker, or video games, but I have been on Facebook a lot here lately. I get so excited to see someone I know but have not talked to in a long time. I click on profiles and add friends, but seldomly do I ever contact them any further.
Today, I found a quote on Debbie Rager's page, and it has got me to thinking, and to think I thought I had quit. I like the quote.
"Wisdom is gained when we endure."
It makes me think of lines from the first chapter of A Separate Peace by John Knowles.
Gene says, "Nothing endures, not a tree, not love, not even a death by violence. Changed, I headed back through the mud. I was drenched; anybody could see it was time to come in out of the rain."
I guess coming out of the rain is wise. That is one of my favorite lines. It moves me. It is simple and revealing, and I like that.
It also reminds me of Heraclitus who says the only thing that endures is change.
I guess if one were to put the two together, one might understand that Wisdom is gained when we change. That brings me to some things most people need to change regularly: Underwear and perspective. Yeah, it is wise to do that.
But, then I think about when Gene asks Phinny what makes him so special, and Phinny replies that he knows there is no war because "Because I've suffered." And, by saying he is changed does Gene feel as though he has suffered becuase of Phinny's death or because he has held on to this guilt for so long?
So, I have no conclusions. Just questions, and it brings me back to the original quote that got me to thinking. By endure does he/she mean suffer. Do I automatically get to feel a certain way because I have suffered? Am I truly wiser, or do I get to arbitrarily declare some intellectual dominance. Is it my right? Is that my justice. The problem with that is that wisdom has more implications than mere intelligence.
It makes me wonder if the know-it-alls have been hurt, forced to endure, to suffer.
I wonder if the person who wrote that quote had been going through difficult times and figured God must be trying to teach him/her something, so he/she had better accept it.
When I go back to work on December 1, I will keep this in mind as come across people with whom I do not see eye to eye. It will make me wonder if they have suffered enough.
That is what I meant to say.
Today, I found a quote on Debbie Rager's page, and it has got me to thinking, and to think I thought I had quit. I like the quote.
"Wisdom is gained when we endure."
It makes me think of lines from the first chapter of A Separate Peace by John Knowles.
Gene says, "Nothing endures, not a tree, not love, not even a death by violence. Changed, I headed back through the mud. I was drenched; anybody could see it was time to come in out of the rain."
I guess coming out of the rain is wise. That is one of my favorite lines. It moves me. It is simple and revealing, and I like that.
It also reminds me of Heraclitus who says the only thing that endures is change.
I guess if one were to put the two together, one might understand that Wisdom is gained when we change. That brings me to some things most people need to change regularly: Underwear and perspective. Yeah, it is wise to do that.
But, then I think about when Gene asks Phinny what makes him so special, and Phinny replies that he knows there is no war because "Because I've suffered." And, by saying he is changed does Gene feel as though he has suffered becuase of Phinny's death or because he has held on to this guilt for so long?
So, I have no conclusions. Just questions, and it brings me back to the original quote that got me to thinking. By endure does he/she mean suffer. Do I automatically get to feel a certain way because I have suffered? Am I truly wiser, or do I get to arbitrarily declare some intellectual dominance. Is it my right? Is that my justice. The problem with that is that wisdom has more implications than mere intelligence.
It makes me wonder if the know-it-alls have been hurt, forced to endure, to suffer.
I wonder if the person who wrote that quote had been going through difficult times and figured God must be trying to teach him/her something, so he/she had better accept it.
When I go back to work on December 1, I will keep this in mind as come across people with whom I do not see eye to eye. It will make me wonder if they have suffered enough.
That is what I meant to say.
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