Beginning

Wis-dom (n.)

1. The ability to discern what is true, right, or lasting. 

I like this definition of wisdom.  I'd always thought of wisdom as something elderly people achieved at some unspecified point in life.  Sometime between turning the corner on middle age and becoming truly old you get a certified document in the mail noting that you are now, officially, Wise and authorized to dispense wisdom to the young and foolish at any moment, solicited or non.  If you have a long flowing beard and live on a remote mountain top somewhere this potentially ups your wisdom factor quite a bit.

As it turns out, wisdom is possibly something one could possess at any age, and in fact, I am privileged to count among my friends a number of children with wisdom beyond anything I can hope to acquire.  When I began communicating with animals a few years ago, I was introduced to the mind-blowing realization that all I'd ever suspected about the inherent wisdom, or "knowingness", of the world around us was, in fact, quite true and then some.  The wisdom that animals possess, that all of nature possesses, is the knowing that we are one and the same lump of stuff, all created from the same microscopic specs of matter, just molded in quite different forms.  Knowing this, it seems, changes everything.  Suddenly what is "true, right, or lasting" becomes much more obvious, and all else falls away like a tawdry side show gimmick.  

Still, the gimmicks are pretty powerful stuff, and it's hard not to get sucked in and forget all the wisdom one just spent a good deal of spiritual effort and several lovely, sunny weekend days acquiring.  It reminds me a bit of playing "Candy Land" with a small friend not long ago.  The absolute worst luck, in my opinion, is almost reaching the end only to wind up in the molasses swamp, where you have to wait out a turn mired in molasses goo with your goal - the coveted candy cottage - in full view.  While everyone else gleefully overtakes you, there you sit, thanks to one poor spin of the little wheel.  Rats.  All that effort, only to be passed by a 4-year-old with better finger dexterity and a possible (albeit unsubstantiated) penchant for manipulating the wheel.  So you wait it out, and despite the setback, you get the chance to learn a little about your game-mate, and then you go on.  Stickier, yes, but possibly a little wiser about the pitfalls of the game and the nature of your companions.

Maybe that's not the best visual, but the thing is, the wisdom we need to get to our goal is all around us, all we have to do is stay open to it, not fight it, and watch out for sticky spots on the way.  Sounds easy right?  Yeah, not always.  The great thing about wisdom is, it's there for us in the sticky spots too.