Tuesday, December 22, 2015

The Master Trait

     It seems that in our Western culture that it has be come en vogue to avoid judgment. Because in judging you have decided that one thing is better than another. And to these people, deciding one culture, one life style, one set of beliefs or values is better than another is bigotry. And it seems that these people hold bigotry as one of the greatest sins someone can commit. Because no one thing is better than any other thing, differences in outcomes must be the result of some kind of injustice. To them the rich are rich because they have taken from the poor. Those who have power must have taken it taken it from someone else. Thus the successful, the rich and the powerful didn't get there by any merit. No they stole what they have. And the unsuccessful, the poor and the weak are their victims. Their victimhood is evidence that they are unwilling to commit the injustices of the rich and powerful and thus victims are seen as a type of saint. The rich and powerful are seen as oppressors.

     The problem with this type of thinking is that it completely ignores reality. In life, somethings are better than others. Some cultures are better than others. Some beliefs, attitudes and values are better than others. Some things are right and other things are wrong.

     In life you must choose. You could choose to take things as the come. Treating all things the same as though nothing is any better than anything else. In so doing you turn your life into a roulette wheel. Even if you accidentally win big with this method, your winnings will slip away as easily as they came.

     Or you could put effort into learning to choose well. Learn to tell the good from the bad, to see subtleties and nuance, to discern motives and intentions and accumulate knowledge and develop understanding. Then use this to choose. This is Wisdom. I once had a Bible that, in the introduction to Proverbs, defined Wisdom as "The ability to make right decisions at opportune times."

     I've posted before (here) about strength being the quintessential masculine trait. Strength, as Jack Donovan puts it, makes you good at being a man. Wisdom, however is not solely a masculine trait. It is a human trait. Moreover is a trait of great people. It is the ultimate force multiplier. More wisdom, more results. Wisdom will make you great.

     Getting Wisdom should be a chief pursuit of everyone. Unfortunately, many people will find this idea is too lofty, too high minded. They just want to live their life. Their life will be one of mixed results and mediocrity. I want to live a great life. I want anyone who sees or hears about me to be in stunned amazement at my life. I want to walk on troubles that others sink in. I want to do with ease what others cannot do at all.

Finally I will leave you with two quotes. They are two of my favorite Bible versus.

"The wise are mightier than the strong, and those with knowledge grow stronger and stronger." Proverbs 24:5

My bible notes that the Hebrew version reads:

"A wise man is strength."

And:

"Above all and before all, do this: Get Wisdom! Write this at the top of your list: Get Understanding!" Proverbs 4:7

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