Blessings of Wisdom to all of you, dear friends of silence! The term "sophia perennis" (perennial wisdom) seems to imply that wisdom is always with us, and yet sometimes it seems to be so sadly lacking. Emily Dickinson wrote about truth, "The truth must dazzle gradually or every (hu)man be blind." Perhaps something similar is true of wisdom: it comes gradually, or it would be beyond our understanding. But perhaps, also, we too often do not look for it, or even think about it. For wisdom is ever with us, in the deepest part of our being, and all around us in the natural world, where we can see it at play if we but pay attention. Internally we can find it by sinking into our silent depths and listening. May Wisdom abound in the world!
O Highest Wisdom,
who circles the great circle,
who envisions the whole world
as one living path,
you have three wings.
One soars above the sky,
another moistens the ground with sweat,
while a third flies
everywhere at once.
O Wisdom, we sing your praise.
Loving communication implies prayerful surrender to the word of God speaking in ourselves and others. Out of this respectful openness there emerges the wisdom to know when to speak and when to be silent. When we do have to say something, we do so wisely and moderately, and to the appropriate person. In persistently trying to see the other against the background of the Sacred, we preserve inner peace.
In the sweet territory of silence we touch the mystery. It’s the place of reflection and contemplation, and it’s the place where we can connect with the deep knowing, to the deep wisdom way.
Wisdom is not gained by traveling afar, but by standing still; not by thought, but by the absence of thought.
Resplendent and eternal is Wisdom,
readily perceived by those who listen
in the Silence of the heart.
Wisdom hastens to make Herself known;
She is available to all who love and seek Her;
who awakens Her from within
will not be disappointed;
for Wisdom awaits at the threshold.
Wisdom is
sweeter than honey,
brings more joy
than wine,
illumines
more than the sun,
is more precious
than jewels.
She causes
the ears to hear
and the heart to comprehend.
Awaken Wisdom within and let it flow out to the world like a gardener sowing seeds of life.
There is an ancient tradition that when Divine Revelation comes into the world, only one part is given as prophetic writings. The words are only a part of the message. The other part is placed within nature, the wisdoms inherent in the Creation. Only when we understand those hidden wisdoms will we be able to read between the prophetic lines and fully understand the message.
Wisdom is an attribute of the soul and unfolds naturally as the soul manifests through the personality. Knowledge can be taught; wisdom is loving understanding or knowledge illumined by love.
We each contain an enduring spark of that Wisdom at the heart of all creation. Isolated and unsupported, it is but a small spark. United with others, those sparks grow into a flame of illumination and strength for us all.
Each part of the world holds wisdom, a key to reigniting humanity’s pure spark.
We attain wisdom not by creating ideals but by learning to see things clearly, as they are.
Everybody has had transcendent wisdom break into the mind. When you’ve wracked your brain with a problem for a long time and then, for some reason, you’ve stopped struggling, and then all of a sudden you got an "Aha! That’s it," where does that come from? Wisdom has broken through.
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Knowledge gives us information. Wisdom gives us light on the way. Knowledge is skill. Wisdom is a quality. Knowledge can be learned. Wisdom can only be distilled from those places in life where knowledge is not enough to really explain what was happening to us, or information failed to resolve what was happening to the other.
Virtue comes through contemplation of the divine as well as through public service. The one is incomplete without the other. Power without wisdom is tyranny; wisdom without power is ineffective.
An ancient river of inner wisdom flows like limitless living water in deep recesses of our being; this activating wisdom wells up in every age to inspire all who have open minds and are able to hear and receive Sophia's sacred energy of new life, light, and purpose.