Information today is so easy to grab. “Google it” has now a verb and if Google fails, well, there’s Siri. Sometimes.
So if I want to study wisdom, where would I go except Google? I do have other ideas in mind but I gave Google a run.
Bible Study 2 (Photo credit: DrGBB)
What did I learn? I know wisdom is valuable. And that many don’t have much.
Wisdom might be the ability to judge correctly, followed up by appropriate actions. You might long for the super-size fast food but wisdom says that’s an indulgence better done in small doses.
So, how do we get wisdom?
My Google search revealed that some scientists think wisdom is wired, that it’s some sort of neurological function that just, well, happens. Others describe it as compassion, self understanding, morality, emotional stability.
Some are exploring the connection between intelligence, wisdom and spirituality.
I think wisdom comes primarily from experience. Make a mistake, learn from it, and grow in wisdom.
But who wants to make every mistake, fall into every black hole, experience every addiction?
So we also learn from others’ wisdom. Their advice can save us from pain. Wise advice from those who know more than we do, who have seen more than we’ve seen, who have connected action and consequence is invaluable.
Wise people and wise books dot the path of wisdom.
The Barna Group did a survey on how Americans view the Bible. They were surprised by how Millennials (the generation Barna defines as being born from 1983-2002) are intrigued by the Bible’s wisdom. These young people are curious about ancient truths.
Maybe they don’t want to experience every mistake. You can save a lot of time and lot of bruises if you can piggy-back on someone else’s wisdom.
Here’s my bottom line on wisdom, and one I want to explore in coming Fridays: Google can help pose the question but wisdom that transcends the ages and goes deep into the human condition is found in the Bible.
Next Friday we’ll explore. The Bible is meant to be read, studied, and pondered. Questions are OK.  Simplistic cliches, no so much. I will be posting some of my observations on Fridays. I’m interested in God’s wisdom and how he communicates that to the readers of the Bible.
First, we’ll take a look at the Bible as literature and how the mastery of words creates depth of meaning.
If you’d like to read Barna’s survey, here’s the link: What Do Americans Think of the Bible.
Google really does have something over my hometown newspaper. Although both love their April Fool’s jokes, Google has outlasted the local newspaper.
My hometown daily shut down the pranks after the outrage of an April 1 story that featured the suicide of what everyone assumed was an fictitious columnist. This columnist had a weekly running commentary on events in the community and the extensive story of his suicide was more than people could bear. End of the pranks.
The best one I remember, though, was the discovery of a match farm outside of town. Readers were given close-ups of bushes bearing matches and a lengthy interview with the match farmer. I don’t know how long it took the reporter to tie the matches onto those bushes.
Google, on the other hand, keeps chucking out the jokes.
Here are a few from their archives:
Google Australia announced the development of the “g-ball,” a soccer-type ball with GPS technology.  The ball could measure the location, force, and torque of a kick, and “vibrate if player agents or talent scouts want to speak to you.” Google claimed that the ball will cost $10 with a cost-per-kick set of payments in addition to the basic fee.
Users were told that Google Docs could upload anything, including things easily lost such as your car keys and remote controls. Using control-F would allow you to search the world and download your item for a small fee.
Google proposed a keyboard with a single key for each Japanese character.
Scratch and Sniff books were added to Google Book Search. Users were instructed to please place their noses near the monitor and press “Go” which would then load odors.
Google Mobile offered Brain Indexing. Users could put phone to their forehead for brain indexing and then simply think their search query.
Google became Topeka for a day. Apparently town fathers in Topeka, Kansas had changed the name of their town to “Google” for a day in hopes of capturing a spot on a broadband/fiber optics project. Google returned the honor, replacing their logo with “Topeka” for the day.
Google users were offered an option to print life-size cardboard cutouts of all their photos.
But this year may top them all. Google and YouTube have joined together to announce that YouTube has really been a contest and it will disappear for the next decade while judges sort through all the entries. Check out the video:
I remember walking somberly into my church as a child on Good Friday, surprised at the dimness of the sanctuary and the absence of candles on the altar. A black cloth hung over the cross and no music played.
It was a powerful reminder of Jesus’ death and the hopeless of a world without God.
I had a time several years ago when I believed God had abandoned me and so I allowed a wall to form around my heart. But eventually I found I missed him. I didn’t want a world without God.
So today I reflect – again – on the thorns of my own pride and find my heart longing for the abundance of God’s fruit.
Fortunately he’s promised never to leave me or forsake me. I don’t have to wait until Easter to celebration.
Personal assistants are a wonderful thing and, when one is built into your phone, it’s a free wonderful thing, right?
Let me tell you a story about that.
siri (Photo credit: Sean MacEntee)
One evening, I was busy and my hands were full. But I had my iPhone and my personal assistant, Siri, right? So when the text came to my phone, I instructed Siri to read it to me. She did, informing me that my husband was letting me know that we were out of milk at home.
“Would you like to repeat or reply?” Siri is so efficient.
“Reply,” I said. I dictated the reply: “I forgot about milk. Sorry.”
Then I got the bright idea to let my children know. My daughter was driving home with my teenage son so I instructed Siri to send him a message: “Dad just told me there is no milk—” Then Siri interrupted me with a beep and asked if I wanted to send the message. “No,” I instructed.
But I didn’t read the screen. I just repeated the whole message: “Dad just told me there is no milk. Do you want to go back and get some?”
After a longer pause than my son usually needs when it comes to text messages, I got his response: “I have no idea what you are talking about.”
When we got together to compare messages, I discovered that I had first replied to my husband like this: “I forgot about mountain sorry.”
And the text to my son read, “Dad just told me there is no mouth. Dad just told me there was no mountain. You want to go back and get baby?”
Siri may be very efficient but apparently I can’t trust her around milk.
