A Cascade of Thinking

[cedar_grove]

Wisdom rested on the ark of the covenant.
From the ark she moved to the cherubim.
From the cherubim she moved to the other cherubim.
From the second cherubim she moved to the threshold.
From the threshold she moved to the courtyard.
From thecourtyard she moved to the altar.
From the altar she moved to the temple roof.
From the roof to the wall, from the wall to the city,
from the city to the mountain, and then,
from the mountain, Wisdom moved out into the desert.

--Talmudic poem, 279CE

They knew that Wisdom is never at rest for long. We find her here one day, there another. One day we find her in a book, the next day in the open sky. One day we discover her in the soulful comments of a friend; the next day a painting speaks truth to us.

I started reading The Story of Solomon Bear today, and it may seem a strange place to be starting to talk about the meditation of the day, but it struck me how much the story, meant for little children, carries a wisdom that is strong to me, for me and in me. The wisdom of love. I haven't read it all yet, but so far the book seems to be about how all encompassing, how 'holy' or 'sacred' for wants of better words, that love truly is.

That strikes me today on a day where I will confess, I feel the need of it.

Certainly, there are other strands of Wisdom at large and alive in the world, we ask ourself daily, questions such as, "Is it wise to leave that x there," or "is it wise to say such and such to so and so," and matters like that, but what guides out actions if not the Wisdom of our experience, and the experience of being a loving person is surely what guides me - at least I try to be guided in that way.

When we ask ourselves what is the best thing to do, aren't we really asking ourselves what is the 'wisest' thing to do - otherwise what do we mean by 'best?' Best for whom? Ourselves? Surely that is a very selfish approach to living life, and yet if we cannot act with wisdom in our own lives, then what?

But then, as the reading says, we find wisdom in many sources. In books - in films and tv shows (let's look at Star Trek for that one) - in music and in pictures of one kind or another... it does not pass me by that all the things that I have listed as containing 'wisdom' are, in some manner or the other, the arts. Is it wisdom we find in science and mathematics - or logic and fact? (Not exactly a rhetorical question, but one to which I don't have an answer). When faced with a choice, do we approach it with fact or with wisdom? And which would be best? Is there a point at which all of these converge and if so, what should we call that point - truth?

There's an interesting possible definition - what is Truth - the point at which wisdom, fact and logic converge.

Moving on... but why... why did I run from that? Was it too deep for me to contemplate if that was in fact the case. Many people say that the truth is subjective - what is truth for me, might not represent truth for another person, and if truth is the convergence of fact, logic and wisdom, since one two of those three things seem to be finite, and wisdom is ever changing, then is not wisdom the key to truth?

Only the vast desert is large enough for her. The desert, and the stars - for the entire universe is Wisdom's home.