Choosing Wisdom - Wishing I Had a Choice

Our lesson today consisted of a detailed analysis of the Wisdom of Solomon, and though class was shorter than usual, my mind was blown by this new interpretation of wisdom (as opposed to the older Jewish experiential/mantic explanation) and its undertones of Greek philosophy.

I can apply a few take away points from our discussion to my experiences from the past couple of day. One revolutionary aspect of this “wisdom” is that it acts a bridge between one’s soul and everlasting life; in other words, only the righteous will achieve immortality, and consequently, acting righteously in the result of attaining wisdom. One passage in the Wisdom of Solomon suggests that a person who desires such a connection must “choose” wisdom, acting righteously in the process and thus achieving eternal life.

I oftentimes wish I could “choose” wisdom. Every once in a while I have these special moments, moments of clarity where I feel safe, cared for, and without worry; things slow down and I am able to really listen and have a conversation with myself. Though this is not exactly the same kind of wisdom that the author of the Wisdom of Solomon defines (that wisdom is characterized by a series of adjectives that act as qualifiers for someone who is “wise”), it would be convenient if I could control/choose when I have these times of clarity. On the very top of one of the hills that cradles Symi in a sort of valley (the view is shown below), I was trying so very hard to have one of these moments, yet it just wouldn’t happen. It’s funny how I encountered this “oh my God” feeling a short twenty minutes after I had left my perch atop that hill. While waiting for our ferry that would take us back to Rhodes, a couple friends and I sat huddled in a circle (think “March of the Penguins”) for warmth. I had the privilege of being in the middle of this circle (thanks to my size) and a subtle calm came over me which I cannot even hope to explain in writing. In short, I did not choose for it to happen then, but it happened nonetheless.

Another noteworthy characteristic of the Wisdom of Solomon is its mentioning of the idea of “natural theology”, where evidence for God’s existence is found in nature; it can be coupled with Stoicism and the idea that nature is much too perfect for it not have been created with the intentions of a higher power. Although this has little to do with “chosen wisdom”, it seems that I most often have these moments when immersed in some overwhelming natural environment. What’s cool is that I can choose when to enter an environment that might trigger these feelings, and thus it came as little surprise to me when I experienced a sort of clarity when Dr. Finitsis took us to his “special spot” in Rhodes. I happened to snap a picture so you can check in out for yourself:

Feeling anything yet?