In the previous article, we talked about the wise person’s appreciation for every person and his significant, valuable role in life’s symphony, in which everyone participates harmoniously and in coordination, due to God’s creation and creativity in the universe, for the more the wisdom of a man increases, the more valuable and splendid he becomes, as a gorgeous tune of that symphony played by a clever musician.
Wisdom and Situations:
As the wise man lives in harmony with those around him and appreciates the value of every man’s work, he also deals wisely, in the same manner, with all situations and events he faces, for he is well aware of the nature of those situations and events and how he should react, hence, he is able to make the right decisions as a result of his experience in life’s journey and his wisdom in discerning everything around him.
This reminds me of that visitor who was roaming in the Dead Sea area, and as he was walking by the seashore, suddenly slipped and he fell into the sea. He was extremely frightened and panicked, because he couldn’t swim and he felt he was drowning little by little in the deep water. For a little while, he was kicking the water with his hands and his feet hopelessly, moving involuntarily to save his life. Afterwards, he felt exhausted and desperate, so he decided to surrender for he couldn’t continue his attempts and he stopped.
Amazingly, after he stopped trying to save his life, he found his body rising to the surface, because of the sea water that was so salty and saturated with minerals that it pushed objects upwards, so they’d neither sink nor drown. Thus, that man would have definitely changed his attitude and would have saved his exerted effort and his anxiety, regarding that situation, if he had known such information.
Our actions in any situation are outputs of our understanding of the nature of what we face in such situations, and the more the mystery of any situation increases, the more troubled and confused we become.
As for wise humans, they act better, more calmly and positively due to their wisdom and understanding of the dimensions of every situation.
Concerning acting wisely in certain situations, I once read a story about some sailors who’d grown quite homesick, as their Spanish warship was sailing calmly home towards the harbor, after sixteen months in the waters of the southern islands. Hardly had they approached territorial waters than heavy grenades were fired against them, so the crew and the soldiers panicked, wondering what reason was behind that attack against them, as they were in their own area of navigation in their country!
Then they realized that US Admiral Dewey achieved a crushing naval victory over the Spanish fleet during the Spanish-American War during their absence (April to August 1898), so they pulled down the Spanish flag and waved a white flag, declaring their surrender. Accordingly, they arrived at the harbor peacefully.
We can see that the reason of the ship’s attack and its surrender was neither the small number of soldiers, nor their lack of battleship equipment and capabilities, but rather their unawareness of the actual situation they were encountering. Consequently, they couldn’t proceed to act appropriately in the situation.
