We can all learn from the lived experiences of others. A proverb is the experience of many and the wisdom of one person who put that lived, practical, life giving, universal experience into words. Those who cultivated wisdom were called sages. These sages became instructors of the people, especially of youth. In times of crisis, they guided the people by reevaluating tradition and belief systems thus helping to preserve unity and peace. The most illustrious of the sages, and the originator of wisdom literature in Israel, was King Solomon. Because of his fame, and the tradition followed in ancient times, some of the wisdom books in the Bible bear his name as the author.
Thus, the Book of Proverbs is a collection of sentences or practical norms for moral conduct. The Book of Job is in the form of a dialog skillfully handling the problem of suffering though only from the standpoint of temporal life. Ecclesiastes examines a wide range of human experience only to conclude that all things are vanity except the fear of the Lord and observance of his commandments. Sirach gathers and presents the fruit of past experience, thus preparing for the Book of Wisdom, which sees for the just person seeking happiness, the full hope of immortality.
Is all wisdom literature alike? Despite numerous resemblances between the sapiential literature of pagan nations and the wisdom books of the Bible, the former are replete with vagaries and abound in polytheistic conceptions, while the latter remain profoundly human, universal, fundamentally moral, and essentially religious and monotheistic.
In 19th century France, Positivism, a philosophy of science based on the view that information derived from scientific observation is the exclusive source of all authoritative knowledge, flourished at universities and literary circles. Positivism is a philosophical school that holds that all genuine knowledge is either true by definition or positive fact derived by reason and logic from sensory experience. The foundations for the positivist way of thinking were established by the Scottish philosopher David Hume in the 18th century and developed into a system by French thinker Auguste Comte in the 19th century.
Unless you had ‘positive’ sensory, rational proof to support and prove your ideas and beliefs, non-sensory, non-positive, nonrational beliefs simply did not exist or were denied by such philosophers. Where Christian beliefs and creeds were concerned, positivism had no room for angels, miracles, heaven, hell, or the Resurrection.
To counteract positivism, Catholic French philosophers like Jacques Maritain and writers like Georges Bernanos celebrated and expressed Catholic Christian beliefs through literary works.
The editor and compiler of this book is a Mangalorean priest based in the United States. The first book he published in 2015 was a narration and collection of memoirs entitled: Everything is Grace. Looking back at all his travels, assignments, encounters, and journeys he realized that the hand of God was everywhere and constantly present in my life. George Aranhas' first profound and life-changing wisdom that brought meaning and purpose to his life, he notes, was this insight: ‘I am where God wants me to be.’
The author writes: “I find wisdom in history in all those who have lived and loved so that I can learn and possibly not make the same mistakes today. I find wisdom in other cultures, nations, and religions. There is wisdom to be found in movies, songs, poetry, literature, psychology, and world philosophies.
“There is wisdom from saints, celebrities, and mystics. Wisdom is everywhere. EPIC, I discovered, is an acronym for ‘Every Person Is Connected.’ When I honor other cultures and religions and understand how they are similar or different from me and my own upbringing, my life is enriched.
“When I refuse to open up to other ways of being, learning and living, a part of me dies. I find wisdom in world literature, music, art, architecture, movies, technology, religions, space exploration, foods, poetry, dance, and song.
“Our personal words and expressions cannot fully and perfectly contain the life and wisdom of the Spirit, so we look around to expand our hearts, our minds, and our souls to immerse ourselves more fully and intensely in the wisdom that surrounds us.”
Fr George Aranha, Ed.D. Inspirational 2025. 216 (Hb). Not for Sale in India. ISBN 978-93-95795-31-9 (Print)
