The Wise Lend Words To Live By
At a church I attended some years back, the minister said one day, “Congregants put too much pressure on leaders to be wise. I stand today to say I will not accept that pressure. I’m willing to organize this community. But don’t put the pressure of wisdom on me. Wisdom in this church lies with you.”
On the surface, this made good sense. How wonderful, congregants thought: a man in the pulpit who doesn’t pretend to know it all. How wonderful to feel like we hold the keys to our own spiritual growth.
But slowly, the wonder wore off. Sermons became boring. People didn’t feel they were growing, or that there was ethical and spiritual depth - in short, wisdom - coming from the pulpit. People began to fall away from that church. These were people comfortable with the summons to take personal responsibility for their life journey. These were people who did not want a crutch, but they were also humble enough to admit they needed wise leadership.
As that church selected a new leader it did so with a lesson learned: that, yes, wisdom lies with the individual searcher, but without wisdom from spiritual leadership, the individual’s life journey is emptier.
As one congregant put it, “We need the wise ones to help us find ourselves.”
Many years before that church experience, I spent al lot of time with a wise old couple, the Harrisons. I’ll never forget one conversation when I was just 13 years old.
“Why are you alive?” they asked me.
Always trying to be “a good boy,” I answered, “To do good in the world.”
“Why else?” they asked.
“To help others.”
“Why else?”
“To love others.”
“Those are all well and good,” Mr. Harrison said, “but why do you try to do good, help others and love others? What are you after in all this?”
I didn’t have a clue.
“Well, here’s what I think,” he said. “I think you should pursue joy in all those things. I think, Michael, you’ve got a joyful spirit and you’re meant to pursue joy. I think everyone is. If you help others, love others, contribute to the world without joy in your heart, your efforts are incomplete. So let me tell you, from me, to find joy in yourself, your family, your community: this is the reason for living.”
Mr. Harrison was confident, emphatic, spoke his truth. It has taken me decades to understand his wisdom.
Why am I remembering it now? Why am I remembering that church leader who refused the mantle of wisdom?
Because on Oct. 6, through the 8th, Robert Bly is coming to Spokane (for information, call 624-1436). He is, quite simply, one of the wisest people I’ve met. Over four decades the mantle of wisdom has been thrust upon him as a poet, philosopher and spiritual teacher, and he has not refused it. In a few months he’ll publish “The Sibling Society,” his long-awaited book on American children, families and culture.
His wisdom is not always something I agree with, but I know it as wisdom because it is more than just information - it is part of Bly’s presence, his vision. When an elder is wise, his wisdom moves the energy within us in mysterious and growthful ways - in ways sometimes that transcend debate.
Who are the wise people in your life, your family, your community, your personal history? Remember them for a moment and honor them. Recall what you learned from them, what you’re still trying to learn.
And if you can, take the opportunity, in a couple of weeks, to meet another wise person, a white-haired, storytelling, wisdom-teaching, emotional thinker who will challenge and entertain you.
You may, in meeting him, meet parts of yourself you’ve forgotten, or missed for a long time, or not yet discovered. xxxx
The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Michael Gurian The Spokesman-Review