Words of Wisdom, Email Newsletter
Plant seeds of wisdom today
Take the next 23 or so breaths slowly and reflect deeply on your life. I hope these words help you grow in you the most valuable treasure in life: wisdom. Wisdom grows imperceptibly but flourishes like a mighty oak, standing the test of time.
WoW 136: On the ways of the wise
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The most important investment you can make is in seeking to become wise. Wisdom is most simply defined as having virtuous skill in living.
Living a virtuous life is the best insurance against becoming poor or experiencing joy if you are. Living a virtuous life is the best way to improve your reputation among people you respect. Becoming virtuous is the best way to make your marriage last and flourish. If you’re single it will help you find the best spouse possible.
Reflect on any specific area of your life and ask yourself, is this the way the wisest person I know would live?
If you can’t answer yes, then identify what the wisest person you know would think and how they would live, and orient yourself towards becoming like them.
Some ideas to grow in wisdom:
Seek to stop doing evil and pursue as much good as possible.
Choose the narrowest way possible.
Practice confession daily.
Read slowly and reread the greatest books.
Have no secrets.
Seek to pray continually.
Expand your vision and awe of God.
Live with gratitude.
Seek simplicity.
Focus on serving others with abandon.
Find the wisest friends you can and love them well.
Quotes
"The unexamined life is not worth living."
Socrates, as quoted in Plato's Apology (38a5–6)
“The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution which has to start with each one of us. When we begin to take the lowest place, to wash the feet of others, to love our brothers with that burning love, that passion, which led to the cross, then we can truly say, ‘Now I have begun.'”
Dorothy Day, Loaves and Fishes
Questions
How would the wisest person I know think about this situation?
What books am I reading to grow in wisdom?
How can I become more wise today?
(Use these questions as a journal prompt and to guide your prayers this week)
Endnote
Cultivating wisdom and virtue is the surest path to a life well-lived; will you commit to walking that narrow way today?
Live wisely,
Josh
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