Frankly, I’ve become somewhat of a cynic and skeptic while growing more ‘chronologically mature’. I take a “jaundiced” view of much that passes as ‘news’ or ‘expert opinions’ or otherwise purported ‘wisdom’.

I think it’s a healthy perspective to adopt, given the state of our culture and society today, and that includes what I’ll refer to as the “Christian” culture.

Thursday while driving to the Ohio event, I noticed a church sign. I notice them often and marvel at how they range from totally not theologically correct to how assinine most of them happen to be. This one took the cake as the old expression goes. Here’s what it said:

“Wisdom is having a lot to say and saying nothing!”

“What?!”, I shouted as I drove by. “How in the world of sanity could anyone believe that is wisdom!”

I’m taking on this subject today because we do a lot of talking here about “wisdom”. I believe wisdom is part and parcel of what occurs as we travel through the 2nd half of the journey; knows no particular gender, but is something that women have intuitively and is of profound importance when we seek to apply it to daily life - ours and that of those we care the most about.

Because many of us at AWP are Christian by desire, I’m looking at this from that perspective. But the same applies regardless of the faith tradition to which we adhere.

For too long, folks of faith have kept still. We used to be called the “silent majority”. We stood idly by while others of a lesser persuasion took ‘pot shots’ at us and then began to take action to strip us of our rights and privileges as citizens of the USA.

As women, myself included, we kept still while women of any persuasion, around the world, were brutalized, violated and otherwise held in the same contempt that much of the world, including the Christian world have always held women. I recall hearing the story of a woman in our community who was brutalized by an abusive husband being told by her “pastor” that if she “left and divorced him”, she wouldn’t be welcome in the church anymore because she would have “committed a sin”.

And we wonder why folks leave the church or don’t want to adopt our way of viewing the life and the world around us!

This may not be of interest to you and you may wonder why I’ve gone in this direction this weekend day. It’s a combination of things that began with that ridiculous statement on a sign in the yard of a building called “church”.

I’ve gone here because one of the things that I believe is part of the vision and mission of AWP is that we owe it to each other to ‘mentor’ ourselves in such a way that we grow in grace, stature, intellect, understanding and wisdom. We grow in care and compassion for each other. And we call into account those things that are phoney expressions of a great truth so that not one of our ’sisters’ here - or anywhere for that matter - falls prey to misrepresentation(s)!

One of the greatest travesties of our society today is that those of us who have been growing in wisdom have remained silent. We’ve bought into a brand of theology that seeks to keep us, as females, confined to the ‘back of the building’ and quiet in the process.

My dear beloved friends - women of considerable excellence, heart and wisdom - that’s not what we’re “called” to do. It is not wise to know the truth and keep quiet. Wisdom, true wisdom, is having a lot to say and knowing when to say it!

It we take the ‘man’ as the model, and regardless of the faith tradition out of which you come, most great religious traditions recognize the ‘man’ at the very least, a great teacher and prophet; we know that he had loads to say and had the wisdom to know when to speak and when to remain silent!

It is wrong to take one small piece of truth and blow it into the whole truth. So taking a comment from Paul to an unruly group of folks in one of his early communities to be the whole truth of how it is we should behave, is to ignore that fact that later in his writings, he implored his young student, Timothy, to encourage women of our vintage to be mentors to those younger than us. If we are so fragile and idiotic as to have to sit in the back and remain silent, then pray tell me why would we be entrusted with training and teaching the oncoming generation of female-types?

Oh, I’ve gone on a rant. But I make no apologies for doing so. I’m outraged by such idiotic nonsense that, underneath it all - when all is said and done - is nothing more than old gender prejudices. And it wouldn’t be so bad if it only took the form of superficial matters; but when it comes to telling the world that both genders need to exercise ‘wisdom’ by keeping what needs to be said hidden in our hearts, I want to take up arms!

So I did! I took up my pen in the form of the computer keyboard and expressed my outrage with such utter stupidity and perversion of the facts of what we are called to be and do!

Now I feel better. But my prayer today is that no one - not a single soul, male or female - will see that sign! And that as women of excellence, we will exercise the privilege we have to say what needs to be said when it needs to be heard; remain silent when it is right and proper to do so; and - have the wisdom - to know the difference.

Blessings on your day!

You need gratitude to your parents, love for them, and trust in them.

You must pay due respect to your parents, to those who are your elders, and to those of wisdom who have good qualities, proper conduct, and actions.

Your tongue must always speak the truth, never falsehood.

Always live in the company of those who are good and those who are wise.

Learn the virtuous qualities of modesty, sincerity, reserve, and fear of wrongdoing.

You must not harm another in your thoughts, in your intentions, in your words, or in your actions.

Acquire Gods qualities. Just as God shows compassion and love to all lives, you too must show the compassion and love of God to all lives.

Faith and certitude in God are essential to your life. They will give you strength, determination, and support. You must develop that steadfastness.

Do not be hasty under any circumstances. Develop patience, the inner patience known as sabur, the contentment known as shakur, the trust in God known as tawakkul, and always say, Al-hamdu lillah, all praise belongs to God.

"Acquire Gods qualities in this way and praise Him always. If these qualities appear in you, if you develop and utilize them, your life will become exalted. No matter where you may be, stay in the company of one who is wise and learn wisdom. Then you will understand the connection between you, your life, and the One who created you. If you understand this, you will understand the correct way to pray and the true state of prayer. This will give you victory in your life."

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Working with body wisdom gives you understanding of changes necessary for ideal health and well being. Working with heart wisdom, gives you emotional understanding. Working with the Earth wisdom grounds you and gives you flow, and stability. Working with the universal wisdom gives you access to universal dimensions, long vision, and expansion options. If you stay connected each step of the way, an opening will be created or exposed that you didn't know existed. You will make gigantic moves that will blow your limited thinking clear through other dimensions. With wisdom you will access ancient knowledge that will look like you performed a magic trick. Others will be astounding by your success, persistence, drive and focus on nearly impossible goals. You will quietly excel with precision and will be in the right place nine out of ten times. If you don't allow yourself to become too distracted, your focus combined with the wisdom that you are accessing minute by minute will keep you clear and flowing.

You access wisdom by listening deeply to yourself. You allow yourself moments of silent contemplation. Then you trust the information that is coming back. It could sound quite outrageous sometimes, but if it feels right even if others might think it outrageous, proceed with instructions as they are given to you. Don't undermine that wisdom by thinking this is impossible, this is crazy. By today's standard it could very well be so radical that it sounds crazy, but allow that same wisdom to expand your consciousness. As you proceed and make progress, others around you will not think it so radical anymore. Think of all the ideas that passed before our time and at that time they were extremely radical too. Not too long ago the computer and the fax machine were unheard of. Before that, vaccines to cure diseases were unheard of. That is until the first one was made and worked as it was meant to.

Now everyone is shouting "why can't they just make a vaccine for it." Even if you are doing something that is not global, wisdom allows you to do something that stretches you beyond your limited capacity and comfort level. Accessing your wisdom allows you to make adjustments and change immediately at any decision, level, task, opportunity, encounter that presents itself. You can be assured of that my darling. Trust yourself. Listen to yourself, and see the flow around you, and respond to your inner guidance, to know exactly what to do, how to engage, use your talent, how to help, to be a part of something big, or to create assistance for someone who needs it at the level that you find yourself right now, or on a global level. The task will not be so hard that will not be able to get through it. Wisdom is the great equalizer. You have it, and you have access to it. So Use it. Learn, discover, push past any limits that you have set for yourself. Remember you don't face this alone.copyright 2006 Yoga Kat

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Have you ever watched them work? They have the animals led around in a circle while they decide whether this bloodhound is a better representation of his breed than a miniature pinscher is of his breed.

I know there are rules to guide the judge, but it looks arbitrary nonetheless. The animals are so different they hardly seem to belong to the same species.

Forgive me for comparing humans with a lower form of life, but you must admit we are all different, too. There is no one else on earth like you. We are each one of a kind, yet we tend to pass judgment on everyone we meet. We like them or don’t like them, trust them or don’t trust them, often without any concrete facts.

How can we break this unhappy pattern? Why can’t we at least wait for something more than suspicion? Besides, who appointed us the judge in the first place?

Today I asked some friends for some examples that support my point. A nurse talked about her husband. She said, “When I was engaged to him, many friends cautioned me, ‘He is too old for you. You’ll find him dull. You won’t be happy with that man.’ They were all wrong. He was a fine man and a wonderful father for my three children. We were all very happy together. My family all loved the man.”

I met a lady who once worked here. She was a staff member who left for a higher salary. She said, “The gentleman who interviewed me for the new job was kindly, attractive and seemed very helpful. The work he described was right for my ability and training. The problem is that my job description has changed almost weekly. The company was not really honest. I’m already trying for a position with another firm.”

A young certified nurse’s assistant talked about her English teacher. “I was scared of her class (after) another student judged her to be the meanest teacher she had ever had,” she said. “I found that judgment to be very unfair. She was a good teacher _ she just wanted your best effort. She made the class fun. I learned a lot from her.”

Something about the nature of mankind causes bad news or opinions to travel much faster than do good reports. If one of us makes a negative judgment about another, the ripple effect takes over and by the time the subject learns of the bad report, half a dozen others may have repeated it.

If the “judge” was wrong in the first place, it may be years before all the ill effects are wiped off the record.

Examples of misjudgments must be common in schools; I recently learned of a second teacher badly misjudged.

A high school graduate told how her entire class had called the teacher tough, mean and unfair. This student, however, said, “She was my favorite teacher. I still send her flowers of thanks.”

When I pushed for an explanation, I was told, “The class was lazy. She brought out the best in me. I loved her.”

If you speak evil of others, it will become magnified. Be kind in your judgments, or forever hold your peace.
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