Emergent Wisdom Assignment

This article by Caroline Bassett considered wisdom to have several dimensions, including discerning, respecting, engaging and transforming.  The key to discerning is seeing the underlying issues and being able to distinguish between two similar-appearing things.  Respecting is a bit along the lines of empathy.  It is thinking about how decisions will affect every person and what concerns and opinions specific people will have.  Engaging means that wise people do something with the knowledge they have and trying to make a change to make the world a better place, fighting for the common good.  Transforming goes along with this, meaning that the world and the Truth is terribly complex and rather impossible for one person to know, even after a lifetime, so a wise person will constantly be changing and perfecting his or her worldview, as the Truth is revealed.  Self-improvement and improvement of the world result from this dimension.

Although colleges could never really give wisdom to students, it is possible to teach how to recognize wisdom and provide an environment to practice wisdom.  Most colleges don't do this.  Some colleges may not have many wise instructors, and thus no examples for the students to observe.  But most of this issue stems from tradition and scripts.  Colleges that are too caught up in traditions do not care to foster wise students.  In discernment, these students might find something wrong with the long-held traditions.  In respecting, they would try to see not only why the college wants to keep the traditions, but also how the traditions affect each student and the members of the community.  Those who practice engaging and transforming would especially be a 'threat' to a college steeped in tradition, as they would make efforts to change the situation and present the Truth in a new way.

I really don't personally know any college that's this stuck on tradition, but it would be colleges of this sort, to varying degrees, that would not try and encourage wisdom from students.  Fortunately, I think the Honors Program here intends to teach wisdom.  This is not an easy task.  Indeed, I believe that it is a gift that only God can give.  It was something he bestowed generously on Solomon and as James 3:17 states (read verses 13-18 for a more full picture), "But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere."  True wisdom can only come from God and those who have it have the responsibility to practice it and allow it to grow.