Wisdom.

I have taken liberty and painted the eyes blue.

I have shown other paintings I have done of Lao Tzu. This one I wanted to do in black and white or a variety of shades of those two colours. Having completed it I was using it as an aid to my daily meditation. I am sure that such a sage coming from China would not have blue eyes but I took artistic freedom and did just that. My own eyes are now drawn into the very heart of the man.

I have been working hard on his writings of 2650 BCE he wrote the Tao Te Ching, some eighty-one chapters some of them no more than a dozen lines. I cannot read the original, as much as I would like to, but I have purchased and gathered over the years many translations. Now I am doing a serious study taking all of the translations I have and considering them and making an attempt to find the words that best help me to understand his.

This along with doing Tai Chi I am finding an inner peace that I have not had in my life before. Such is the wisdom of his words.

Wisdom is the power to see and the inclination to choose the best and highest goal, together with the surest means of attaining it. So today some thoughts about, Wisdom.

Why have I taken so long to discover this inner peace that I have sought so long? Those who know me well I am sure will agree with the words I am about to say.

Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you would have preferred to talk. It has taken me so long to be quiet and consider. To use fewer words and do more listening. I have been fortunate to have been considered a friend by many very clever people. I learned much from them, but how much more I might have learned had I listened even more.

It is so very very true that a wise person learns from the experience of others. An ordinary person learns from his own experience. A fool learns from nobody's experience.

A genie appears at a faculty meeting and tells the dean that in return for his unselfish and exemplary behaviour, he will reward him with his choice of infinite wealth, wisdom or beauty. Without hesitating, the dean selects infinite wisdom.

"Done!" says the genie, and disappears in a cloud of smoke and a bolt of lightning. 

Now, all heads turn toward the dean, who sits surrounded by a faint halo of light. At length, one of his colleague's whispers, "Say something."

The dean looks at them and says, "Maybe I should have taken the money." 

I have no doubt whatsoever he made the correct choice. it is very true that there is no fool like an old fool. 

Do not put off there is always time to find the greatest gift of all after love, wisdom. I have said it so often but I say it again as my dear friend Jim says, "Every day is a school day."