Contemplating Wisdom

Philosophers throughout the ages seek wisdom in different ways. A simple understanding of philosophy comes from the two root words that make up the word "philosopher": philo - love, and sophia, wisdom. A philosopher is a lover of wisdom. There are many kinds of love, and a philsopher's love is akin to a collector's love of antique or art. Philosophy is a collection of wisdom from various sources, collected seredipitously on a philosopher's journey through life, or laborously in a scholar's studies. Most valuable of all, in my humble opinion, is the wisdom revealed from a Higher Power.

M. Scott Peck made a life of contemplation the central theme of his book, "A World Waiting to be Born." In it, he asserted that a time for prayer in a Christian's life, is a time of contemplation, to allow the heart to be emptied, to be readied for the wisdom of God to enter. In a Zen Buddhist's ideal of contemplative meditation, the mind is also emptied, and the emptiness is the goal, the objective, without expectation of revelation or inspiration. The difference I find interesting between Christianity and Zen Buddhism is the contrast between the passion inherent in Christian evangelism, and the dispassionate intelligence central to Zen Buddhism. Yet, both are built on a life of contemplation.

Another difference between the two, as stated by M. Scott Peck in his book, is the level of intimacy in Christ's prayer to the Father, compared to a prayer in almost any other religion in the world. To me, the central difference between Christianity and all other religions, (and I trend softly and respectfully here), is the unique theme of Christ's death on the cross and the subsequent resurrection. As John said in the Gospel, God so loved the world.... There are many who claim to hear the voice of God, and many who claim to know wisdom to lead us to riches. Yet, it is Christianity alone that condemns its own church leaders for abandoning the sheep, feeding on their flesh, instead of binding up the weak and wounded. Christian doctrine, at it's most essential and spiritual, or mystical, transcends the worldly dogma that plagues all the great religious cultures of the world, including orthodox Christianity of all denominations. A simple book, a simple Word, binds together all the critical ingredients for utopia, like a mustard seed with all the DNA necessary to grow a mighty tree.

Contemplation is the time committed to listening to the DNA within, to find the intimacy with the Higher Power, to see the world not as we human see it, but as the Higher Power who cares not an iota about the mundane daily worries of our desperate lives, but the higher consciousness of our souls. It is not easy contemplating wisdom because we may not like to hear what is said. Not often are we given mighty missions as Ghandi was. Not all of us leading a life of Satyagraha will be a great leader. M. Scott Peck wrote in the book, "A World Waiting to be Born," that each of us has a different calling, a vocation. Not all vocations are earth-shattering or monumental. Some are simple. To follow our calling, whatever it may be, to be true to ourselves, is the wisdom that brings courage to change, and serenity to live.