Maybe it’s just me, but as I get older, I hear certain expressions that many of us use in everyday life, bits of so called “wisdom” which no longer make sense to me. Phrases which once sounded reassuring just don’t seem to fit anymore.
Recently, visiting somebody who was very ill, a well-meaning friend tried to offer comfort, by saying, ‘There’s always someone worse often than yourself.’ It was kindly intended. But I wonder, if I am suffering, does it really ease things to know that someone somewhere is suffering even more?
Then there’s that other familiar saying, ‘If a job’s worth doing, it's worth doing well.’
Yes, it's always good to do your best. Doing something with care matters. But if excellence is the only reason for doing things, then why would any of us ever try anything new? A new recipe? A new fitness class?
I play the piano very very badly, but playing badly still gives me great joy – other members of my family may have a different view on that!
And again, no one would say to a child writing their first story, or painting their first picture that isn't very good, and that Shakespeare and Picasso have done much better. Some things are worth doing because they are worth doing.
Or another phrase people say, ‘Things have a funny way of working out in the end.’
Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don’t. Life does not offer the chance to rewind and test out a different outcome. What we can do is live with what is, and learn, adapt and adjust as we go. It is this kind of wisdom that helps us to live well.
Perhaps time is less a great healer, and more a patient teacher, helping that adjustment little by little.
Jesus said that the greatest in the kingdom were little children. Maybe it’s because they try things without fear of failure, they say sorry more readily, and begin again without hesitation. Now this is the kind of wisdom we need in our world today.
And I was reminded of something similar when thinking about the astronauts returning from the Artemis mission the other day. Like astronauts before them they went to look at the moon, but found themselves rediscovering the earth: its fragile beauty, its precious value. One of them spoke about an overwhelming sense of gratitude. Now again, that’s the kind of wisdom we need: Not getting some kind of false assurance by imagining that someone is worse off than you but learning to say thank you, living with what is, whatever life puts before us.
And today, of course, would have been Queen Elizabeth II’s 100th birthday. Here’s another wisdom, Her’s was a life marked by steadfastness duty and an extraordinary sense of service. This is the wisdom we need, carrying our responsibilities faithfully and giving thanks for whatever is entrusted to us and whatever life puts before us.
