Assuming Wisdom

If you keep an open mind and enjoy learning, you might be surprised by how much you can learn on any given day. When my wife and I went to church yesterday we were hoping to learn something from the Pastor’s sermon, but I actually learned an important lesson before I ever even made it across the parking lot!

The Pastor’s message yesterday focused on how important it is to never stop learning. He reminded us that we need to stop talking and listen because we can’t hear or learn, if we are talking. He also taught us something that I personally didn’t know, the difference between knowledge and wisdom. Actually it’s pretty simple. Knowledge comes from experience and education. Wisdom only comes from God and understanding God’s word. I had never looked at it that way before but looking back on my life, I can see that most of the stupid mistakes I made were because I lacked wisdom.

I admit I’m definitely not as wise as I would like to be, especially at the age of 61. But with four children and six grandchildren I have a lot of family members who could use a wise old man to turn to for advice. So I better pay attention and start seeking more wisdom, which brings me back to the lesson I learned yesterday in the parking lot of a church.

My wife and I tend to visit a variety of churches so we had only been to this church in Dana Point once before on Easter Sunday. On that day it was so crowded we had to park a half mile away, but yesterday the main parking lot was wide open. I saw several cars turning and parking only on the south side of the lot, but there were six open spaces on the north side and since I didn’t see any special signs, I parked in a space on the north side. My back is still really messed up so I had a noticeable limp as I walked towards the church. As we got close, a man with an orange vest standing next to some coned off parking spots stopped me. I assumed he was a parking attendant and I was positive he was going to yell at me for parking in the wrong spot. My back’s hurting and the last thing I want to do is walk back and move my truck, but my assumption could not have been more wrong. The man in the orange vest said, “Next time you come, if you’re still limping, just pull up near me and I'll move a cone so you can park real close.”

You know what they say about assumptions. Well, that’s exactly how I felt, like a horse’s rear end. But I did learn a lesson. It’s better to assume wisdom than it is to make assumptions!

It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.

~ Harry S. Truman