In Search of Wisdom

Posted by Leona Bergstrom

I’ve said it many times: Midlife and older people should be involved in all areas of ministry in the church because it needs their wisdom.

While it is true we yearn for sage insights, wisdom doesn’t come automatically with the passing of years alone. American comedian Tom Wilson is quoted as saying, “Wisdom doesn’t necessarily come with age. Sometimes age just shows up by itself.”

Almost synonymous with the word “wisdom” is the name Solomon. After all, he was not only a great king who governed his people with integrity and renowned good judgment, he was an esteemed philosopher, writer and teacher. Scholars widely agree that many of the words recorded in the Book of Proverbs are those of a reflective statesman and father writing counsel to the next generations. “My Son,” is often the prelude to words of exhortation pointing toward artful living and godly choices.

I often wonder how Solomon got so wise. The opening words of the book of Proverbs say the “fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (1:7), but where is the starting point for wisdom?

It seems that wisdom comes through the difficult work of analytically processing life. Solomon had the writings of his father, the great King David, who through his years had lived in the finest of palaces but also in the darkest of caves. His poetry, psalms and songs reflected a level of introspection rare in most of our personal experience. Solomon must have thought long and hard about this heritage, even as he examined life around him. His confidence that God could be trusted was seared by his own disconnect between faith and reality. His personal wrestling match with knowledge, experience, faith and life are public record in Ecclesiastes. Some of his conclusions are rather dire and almost depressing, but his quest for wisdom will forever be inspiring. The final statements in Ecclesiastes say of the writer, “He pondered and searched out... and what he wrote was upright and true.” A final admonition? “Fear God and keep his commandments,” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

Dr. Monika Ardelt, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Florida, has done extensive research in the area of wisdom and how it relates to aging. She states that wisdom is the rediscovery of the significance of old truths through a deeper and more profound understanding of events. She adds that while wise people do not necessarily learn more facts than other individuals, they comprehend the deeper meaning for themselves.

How are we, the Boomers and Beyond, doing at being wise? Are we dispensing knowledge that has been marinated in God’s wisdom found in deep contemplation and thought, or do we give advice similar to Job’s counselors, whose words he describe as “tasteless food?” (Job 12:12).

Dr. Ardelt says that wisdom comes in old age from reflection, assimilating and seeking understanding. The great preacher Charles Spurgeon once said, “To know is not to be wise. To use knowledge is to have wisdom.”

It is our obligation not to simply offer knowledge or advice to the next generations. It is to impart wisdom. This comes through knowing the Word of God, applying and praying it into our lives, wrestling with the dissonance, reflecting, seeking understanding and ultimately finding perspective in light of eternity.

May we be a generation that truly searches for and offers wisdom.
(Written by Leona in her role as Co-Director, Converge Worldwide 2nd 1/2 for Him)
(Photo by Jenn Larsen, shared via Flickr)

Use it, or Lose it!

Posted by Leona Bergstrom (this is NOT a rerun)

CREATIVITY: THE MARK OF WISDOM

I’ve spent nearly three decades proclaiming my belief that there is something absolutely wonderful about aging. Deep down in my soul I’m convinced God’s creative work in our lives comes to its most magnificent climax somewhere near the end of the journey. I was reminded of that this week as I meandered through the outdoor galleries of a summer arts festival.

One of the artists had placed himself in front of his easel and canvas smack dab in the middle of the walkway. Beside him was his well-worn wooden box of tightly squeezed partial tubes of acrylic paint, some of still oozing drops of magenta and periwinkle and lemon. On his canvas were streaks of color that were just beginning to depict a cloud covered sky at sunset. It had potential, but no real form.

The facts that the painting was in process and that the artist blocked the passage of the crowd suddenly didn’t matter as I realized that I was looking at a Master. His work was breathtaking. So was his long white beard. He was dubbed the Old Painter of the Pacific Northwest. I don’t know if he had painted for years or if it was a later-in-life hobby, but his work had a depth and maturity that comes from two things: skill and experience. He obviously did not just know how to paint a sunset, he knew how to experience one.

I am coming to understand that wisdom is the synthesis of what we know and what we experience. In our younger years we knew a lot. We were well educated, well read and highly skilled. And then life kept happening and our story filled with experiences--some dreadfully sad and others delightfully joyful. The canvas of our lives filled up with swaths of colors and textures as our lives became God’s masterpiece. We began to find wisdom.

I recently attended a public lecture by Dr. Gene Cohen. He is a psychiatrist and a gerontologist, and among his many positions of public service has been as acting director of the National Institute on Aging. He is best known for his research on the aging brain and his findings about creativity in later life (The Creative Age, 2000). Cohen maintains that most of us have not even begun to utilize our brain’s potential and that that later life is about having the inner comfort and courage to try something new. Research shows that acquiring a new skill actually “lights up both the right and the left brain” (Cohen) and we have a new capacity to evaluate, reevaluate, create and re-create. In other words, we have lots more brain capacity and learning a new skill actually increases the potential of the brain. Creative activity really gets it going!

Charles Schultz said it another way, “Life is like a ten-speed bike. Most of us have gears we never use.”

What a great challenge for Christians in the second half of life! We can learn new things, explore new areas of ministry and be creative! We can develop relationships with people of all ages. We can become wise.

The writers of the Proverbs sought wisdom and concluded that it was only truly achieved through knowing God and experiencing life. “For whoever finds me (wisdom) finds life and receives favor from the Lord.” (Prov. 8:35, NIV)

The list of “Late Bloomers” is long and impressive. In fact, much of the world’s great artwork, music, literature and drama has been created by those age 50+.

What new thing will you learn in this season of life? What masterpieces will you create? How will all that you have learned and all that you have experienced come together in new, creative expressions of wisdom?

PS: I’m taking this SO seriously, I’ve just enrolled in Graduate School! Stay tuned.
(Photo by cobalt123, shared via Flickr)

With Age Wisdom - sequel #2 - Terry

With Age Wisdom

At twenty, stooping round about,
I thought the world a miserable place,
Truth a trick, faith in doubt,
Little beauty, less grace.

Now at sixty what I see,
Although the world is worse by far,
Stops my heart in ecstasy.
God, the wonders that there are!

Archibald MacLeish