WHAT IS WISDOM?
Lots of people have lots of opinions on that. Aristotle considered it the understanding of both the whats and whys of life’s realities, and Socrates said that a wise man is one humble enough to recognize the limits of his knowledge. Sutton and Hargadon basically agreed, defining the “attitude of wisdom” as “acting with knowledge while doubting what one knows”.
KNOWLEDGE, THE FOUNDATION OF WISDOM
All of those perspectives have at their core the concept of KNOWLEDGE and the recognition that its acquisition is a lifelong process. So, if you have any interest in wisdom, the first requirement is to commit to being a lifelong student. This will involve learning from your own personal experience (daily evaluation of your actions and the results, implementing changes as needed in your actions to improve those results, and then repeating the process), learning from the experience of others (associate with and study those you admire – be thoughtful about who they are!), and reading. For those of you who are fond of saying “I don’t read”, I’m sorry. Even today, the worlds wisdom is largely recorded in books. And serious students will exercise and strengthen their “reading muscles” because they realize that otherwise their quest for wisdom with be severely hampered.
THE CROSS OF WISDOM
I don’t know if anyone has ever seriously studied it, but it does seem as if humans like to conceptualize things in fours. Four points to the compass – north, south, east, and west. Lots of points in between, be we start with those four. Four elements – earth, fire, wind, and water. Four personalities types – sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic; lion, monkey, Labrador, and beaver; triangle, square, circle, and squiggle. Or however you like to conceptualize them, there are still four. Four seasons. Four Cardinal Virtues. Four Noble Truths.
One of my dental mentors used to talk about fours in terms of crosses like the Cross of Dentistry, the Cross of Fulfilment, and the Cross of Life. Humbly continuing that tradition, I have discovered a few more crosses that help me conceptualize and order my life. And foundational to all of them is the Cross of Wisdom.
The four points of this cross – Know Yourself, Know Your Purpose, Know Your World, and Know Your God – form the foundation on which all the other crosses we will talk about are built.
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KNOW YOURSELF
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Dr. Lon Peckham provides comprehensive and wholistic dental care in Priest River, Idaho. He is a consultant certified in Lead Management and Choice Theory, Advanced Dental Implantology, as a Lifestyle Health Facilitator, and is currently pursuing certification by the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine. He helps Patients and Dentists successfully incorporate whole-health into their lives and practices.
