Confucius' 3 Paths to Wisdom (whom I met yesterday)

Bill Brown .... Visit XICF (Xiamen International Christian Fellowship)

"If you seek her [wisdom & understanding] as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures..." Proverbs 2:4,5

"Those who know the truth are not equal to those who love it." Confucius

"By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest." Confucius

We met a young man with the English name of "Wisdom" yesterday at the Loving Hut, a delightful little fast health food (sound like a contradiction in terms?) place in the Forward Center outside Xiamen University. He told Sue he got the name from the Bible. He may have been only a waiter in a fast food (fast healthy food!) but he's young, and I'm sure he's going places. He has to be smart because he has excellent English, which isn't easy to pick up even for university students here, yet he was content, and cheerful, and talked to us about his work, which he seems to enjoy.

To speak such good English, he must have ambition, and yet he is content where he is now, at this time. Truly the name "Wisdom" fits our new young friend, for how else can we live but in the here and now?

We can't change the past, and no one knows the future. Whether we live ten years or a century, each of us has only today, here and now, to make a different. Debilitating and demoralizing regrets, and vain imaginings for tomorrow, are not helpful. Forgetting what is behind (but learning from it!), we press forward, hands to the plow today, in this field, working towards this harvest that our Father has blessed us with. And the point of our daily plowing is to grow spiritually, learning wisdom, and the truth.

Confucius said, "By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest."

1) Reflection. Reflection is good, but what do we reflect upon? Upon ourselves, our navel? Fortunately, our Father has given us a road map for life, an "Owner's Manual" penned by our Maker. I first read the Bible (click to see why it is my favorite book) through when I was seven. My family was not religious and did not attend church, so I read it out of sheer curiosity--and the truths gripped my heart--especially the life and words of Jesus. I had no guidance so I also read other books--Jewish, Islamic, even Buddhist--whatever I could get my hands on in our small library. I enjoyed them all, but as Justin the Martyr discovered (see below), nothing stuck a chord like the life, love and down-to-earth wisdom of Jesus.

2) Imitation. Confucius said that imitation is easiest, and that is probably true--but what if we imitate the wrong person! By the time I was 8 or 9, I had read the lives of many people, ancient and more recent (George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington Carver, Gandhi). I learned from all of them, but none were like Jesus. And I was fortunate, in some ways, that I learned about him not as a "religious figure," which would have turned me off, but straight from the Bible, as a real man--the Son of God and the Son of Man, a man of compassion whose only real enemy was hypocrisy and injustice. And so I decided, early on, to imitate Jesus. I have never even come close, of course. Like Paul, I "die daily" and not just daily but hourly! But I press on, and day by day learn--and that leads us to Confucius third point.

3) Experience. Confucius said experience is the bitterest way to learn, but it is the only way to transform the borrowed wisdom of reflection and imitation into our own wisdom, that we can apply to our own lives. And it is indeed bitter at times, especially if we persist in experiencing the wrong things. But I'm thankful I have a Father who lets me mess up only so far and then gently brings me back to Him, over and over.

Yesterday I met a man named Wisdom, but someday I shall face true Wisdom face to face.

* * * * * *
F.B. Meyer, in "Our Daily Homily" (London, 1894) wrote of Proverbs 2:4,5

THERE is a beautiful illustration of the truth of these words in the life of Justin the Martyr, who died for the Gospel in the second century. As a young man he earnestly sought for truth, specially that which would arm him with self-control. He took up one system of philosophy after another, trying them as a man might explore mine after mine for silver. Finally, he found that every effort was futile.

"All at last did faithless prove,
And, late or soon, betrayed my love."

At length, wandering in despair on the seashore, he met an aged man, a Christian, who spake as none had ever done to his heart, and pointed him to God in Christ. Beneath those words, that afternoon, he understood the fear of the Lord, and found the knowledge of God.

Thomas longed for evidences of the Resurrection, and Christ came to him. The Chamberlain, as he sat in his chariot reading the book of Esaias the Prophet at chapter 53, was desirous to know the truth, and Philip was sent to him. To Saul of Tarsus, groping in the midnight, there came fuller revelations than ever Gamaliel gave, through Stephen and Ananias, led by the Spirit of God.

But you must be prepared to sacrifice all. He who seeks diamonds, or pearls, or gold, will leave his native land, and what other men hold dear, and centre his whole attention on his quest. Not otherwise must it be with those who would understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. They must be willing to count all things but loss, to sell all they have, in order to boy the field with its treasure-trove.
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