Phronesis
“Knowledge is power”, says the one who has it. A wise king who reigned more than 3,500 years ago and acquired unsurpassed riches and fame also said the same thing. He even compared knowledge with money in terms of the protection they can provide. While this is true in may cases, the same king however eventually realized that there is something even more important than knowledge and money.
That is wisdom. Wisdom is the ability to put knowledge to good use. Having little knowledge with the ability to use it properly is better than acquiring all the knowledge in the world without using them. Acquiring wisdom and understanding enables the one who possesses them gain power and money. But even without money and power, the most important of all that wisdom can provide is the preservation of life.
No matter how many generations of man come and go, this is indeed a time-tested truth: “For wisdom is a protection just as money is a protection, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves the life of its owner.” *
Traveling on the paths of life
When we travel, we see different sceneries and people. We experience different situations and witness scenarios that help us understand nature, learn some lessons in life as well as deal with problems that are associated with the changing scenes along the way as we move on.
In many cases, one path traverses alongside the other, and sometimes one is crossing either above or below the other, while most paths directly cross others. Nevertheless, no travelers in any of these crossroads are bumping on each other, but all of them mutually co-exist with the others. In some cases though accidents happen that lead to damage or even loss of life and property, and sometimes unforeseen occurrences cause miseries to a traveler’s life.
Sometimes accidents happen due to someone’s either unintentional or deliberate mistake and negligence. Any action on one’s part will always affect others somewhere, and this is the truth that applies to both physical and behavioral sciences. So a misery to one is oftentimes caused by someone or something elsewhere. However just like self-accidents that are not always attributable to someone else’s error but the person’s himself, one’s miseries can not always be blamed on someone else, because we also sow things that we reap right after and maybe sometime in the future.
As we walk our chosen paths in life, we are being guided by someone or something no matter how much we refuse to accept such fact. And the efficiency, competency and effectiveness of our guide will only be proven after sometime when the results are revealed. One may say that no one can tell him how to handle his job or responsibility as he knows very well what he is doing. Such person is just deceiving himself because everyone needs guidance, and sometimes the best guidance comes from the least of those we consider as worthy of providing one. With one’s refusal to accept guidance from someone giving a wise advice (in many cases unsolicited out of love and care), he inadvertently cannot avoid acquiring guidance from another source which most of the time an inferior one that leads to disaster.
May we always travel our life’s path listening to proper and wise guidance so we can make right decisions that will bring us rich rewards in life. And what is the best reward if not the satisfaction of knowing that you have done the right thing along with the happiness of extending good deeds to others. Money and glory that comes along with it is just a bonus.
The roadsides of life’s path
As I travel the road, I see a lot of things, people and incidents, along with experiences that helped me understand things better. These made me slow down and sometimes stopped to look and ponder. Some are annoying, others amusing. But in every detail of the story there is a lesson to learn which I would like to share in the different topics and articles based on real incidents somewhere in this site. I hope you enjoy travelling with me and learn the wisdom, not from me but, from behind each story or content of the pages.
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* Ecclesiastes 7:12 (NWT)
* Proverbs 3:13 (NWT)
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