This weekend I finished a book my Mom recommended.  Thank you Mom!   (Dad, after you read this, take the laptop over to Mom so she can read this… thanks :-)) The book is “The Nightingale” by Kristin Hannah.  I really enjoyed the book and found it striking because it presented WWII in France from two women’s perspective.  So much of history is shaped and written about and by the exploits of men that we fail to sometimes fully recognize the role of women in inspiring history, and more importantly leaving a legacy of courage, fortitude, and love for us to aspire to.  For the last year or more I’ve been writing some material that addresses our responsibility to our future generations, and what it means to leave a legacy, then at the end of this book, I found a two word sentence that spoke so loudly to me, it was “Love lasts.”   I had tears in my eyes when I read this not for what these women persevered through, and how they suffered, but how in the end they left a legacy of love, and in two words this message was succinctly delivered as an absolute truth.

In the Book of Wisdom, wisdom is represented as female to the reader, and I ran across that in church at liturgy one day quite awhile ago, and I came to appreciate over some contemplation how wise the author was to remind us that wisdom is precious and always comes first from our mothers in some ways, and very small ways at first.  From this start if we keep our hearts open and we listen, maybe we can hear the whisper of wisdom all through our lives.   Seeking and developing wisdom allows us to learn and enjoy then the legacy of love that those before us bring to us… and then we can be the bearers of that wisdom and loving benefit to future generations.

A poem I wrote awhile back I like very much as it presents the simple challenge to me to seek out and then listen carefully to her when she speaks, in this case maybe it was through the simple sentence written by Kristin Hannah… “Love lasts”

Wisdom

Wisdom whispers to us

Why it so hard to hear her?

My world is so noisy

Yet I know she is there

She is breathtaking panoramic, and

I’m looking at the smallest details

She is intricate in her fine work

I can’t see the message in the picture

 

She speaks through the meek

I listen to the proud

The wise add ideas, but

Are drowned by the chant of many

 

She stands at my bed in the mid of the night

I’m too tired to capture the thoughts

Please speak to me through my day

I promise I’ll listen in my own way

When I was in high school I experienced an event that changed who I am, or more possibly made me realize who I am.  At 16 I wanted to view myself as a gladiator, ready and capable of glory on the gridiron.   Mr. Smith was my catalyst.   He was the physics teacher, but also would teach other classes such as history and geography.  Once in a class, not sure what it was or what topic, he pointed to me and said lets hear what Socrates has to say on the topic. At the time, I took it in stride but was stung some because it seemed I was called out for being different.  At 16, who wants to be different?  Later that year in the summer I worked out and trained to play football.  I was in great shape and extremely confident, probably foolishly so.  In August I had an appendectomy and thus ended my gladiatorial ambitions.  However I came away with a knowledge of myself, that I could get in shape, I could be strong if I wanted to put the work into making myself that gladiator.

In a parallel event, Sister Boneventure gave me a book at 15 or 16, which seemed odd at the time.  It was Lord of the Rings, book 1 or 2.  It happened right after she saw me nearly beat up a bully in her class room (for some reason I didn’t get in trouble), maybe she thought I would relate to Frodo, in any case it set me on a lifelong interest in reading. Thank you Sister, and J.R.R Tolkien!  So when much later I ran across Plato’s treatise on Socrates in a second hand book store, I was willing to give it a go.  I was curious and more open to think about that nickname from high school, so I took the time to read it.  I wanted to know what was meant by this nickname that few probably knew stung me some when I was young.   I learned about the Socratic method, I learned how to abstract my self interest long enough to develop perspective and understanding of myself and situations and issues of life.   I found that to discover essential truths, one needed perspective, the ability to see from a distance and the strength of character to accept truth, no matter how much it may hurt.  Furthermore I realized that to lead others to logic, reasoning and success I needed a poets ability to communicate simply and succinctly… sure at this moment you are probably wondering where some of that brevity is…  in any event, with much practice I found myself able to live and operate this way.  As a result I believe that I’ve enjoyed accomplishments, success, and even happiness in this world because of this drive toward a philosopher/poet view of the world.  So did Mr. Smith see in me a young man that could be a philosopher/poet, and should be instead of a gladiator, or was it just a fun thing to say at that moment in time.  I’m sure I’ll never know, but I’m also sure that he said it and it did result in a tremendous positive affect on me.  Many others provided positive role models, especially my parents and influenced me in so many ways, but this one statement of observation on his part or likely more accurately a challenge on his part shaped my approach to life, love, family and business.   Sister Boneventure, will never know that she enable in me a passion for reading, that allowed me to follow my curiosity and pursue knowledge that I would never have acquired otherwise.

I hope that in someday, in someway I have a similar affect on others and challenge them to enjoy the benefits of perspective, logic, thinking and a poets capacity to communicate.  Maybe others will think about it in the future and realize that the Socratic Method of ancient times has value in all we are and will be.  Amazing how thought and challenges at impressionable ages carry through from generation to generation.