“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.” –Proverbs 1:7
I celebrated the anniversary of my birth recently, and one of the hallmarks of getting older is taking stock of where you have been and looking toward the future. Often I catch myself reflecting on sayings from Scriptures, such as “There is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:7), or sayings from my mother, such as “Hard of hearing people never live half of their days.”
I have found both comfort and inspiration from these reflections. At other times, I have been challenged, even corrected, as I considered the wisdom of these statements.
Wisdom sayings have played a huge part in my life, whether through memorizing Scripture or hearing my mother repeat an adage when she tried to teach me a lesson that she hoped would stick. To my chagrin, as I have matured I, also, use some of these proverbs from my Afro-Caribbean-American culture — as well as some I’ve picked up from other people groups and reading Scripture.
As an organization, we have mission and vision statements, benchmarks and outcomes that serve as guiding principles for the work we do as a healthcare corporation. Now, as we begin the fourth quarter of the year and prepare to welcome new and returning students in a few weeks, we would like to spend the next 52 Thursdays in News of the Week exploring wisdom.
It is wisdom that will help us know as a community how to connect, listen with empathy and discover the gifts of all who make up our one Loma Linda University Health family.
The biblical Book of Proverbs, or “words to the wise” (Proverbs 22:17), will serve as our instruction manual as we embark on this journey of exploration. This body of literature will help us to integrate our faith and everyday life. Proverbs 1:7 invites us to place our reverence for God as the foundation for any learning that we hope to begin. I truly believe that there is no need to repeat negative actions from the past, hoping for new results.
Wisdom requires us to look back, learn from the past and press forward with bold faith that God indeed is our foundation and source of power.
The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:
To know wisdom and instruction,
To discern the sayings of understanding,
To receive instruction in wise behavior,
Righteousness, justice and equity;
To give prudence to the naive,
To the youth knowledge and discretion,
A wise man will hear and increase in learning,
And a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel,
To understand a proverb and a figure,
The words of the wise and their riddles.
–Proverbs 1:1-6
These are indeed words to live by.
—Dilys Brooks, MDiv, is the chaplain for University Spiritual Care at Loma Linda University.