Wisdom is not a one-dimensional quality. It is something like an intersection of knowledge and understanding with commonsense… A cultivated awareness of the big picture along with attentiveness to detail… Consistent, tenacious, and ready for change... Open-hearted with clear, strong boundaries…
Wisdom seems to presume and produce thoroughgoing balance. While its varied streams and currents seem to flow in and out through the mind, it certainly involves much more than cognition; it’s a whole-soul endeavor. Furthermore, it makes no sense in isolation: wisdom is relational.
Copyright Scott Burnett 2006
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Generosity
I think generosity is the heart of emotional flexibility. Physical flexibility improves the fluidity of my movement, allows me to flow more symbiotically with life’s currents, and helps fend off injuries related to brittleness. Generosity brings analogous qualities to my feelings, reactions, and moods.
A readiness to share what I have, whether material, relational, or spiritual, keeps my soul pliable and supple. It seems to increase my capacity to “roll with the punches”, and ease my tendency to jump to conclusions.
Kindness is among generosity’s most beautiful faces; softness to another soul. Sometimes it’s harder to share than cash! But its power to radiate blessing is remarkable – even small acts of kindness can emit wellbeing in all directions.
Copyright Scott Burnett 2006
A readiness to share what I have, whether material, relational, or spiritual, keeps my soul pliable and supple. It seems to increase my capacity to “roll with the punches”, and ease my tendency to jump to conclusions.
Kindness is among generosity’s most beautiful faces; softness to another soul. Sometimes it’s harder to share than cash! But its power to radiate blessing is remarkable – even small acts of kindness can emit wellbeing in all directions.
Copyright Scott Burnett 2006
Monday, October 23, 2006
Cognitive Endurance
Honesty ^ Curiosity ^ Follow-through
Clear, productive thinking can’t be sustained without honesty. Without it, cognition gets tangled, threadbare, compromised, structurally unsound…
Curiosity – an appetite for discovery – is a sustainable fuel. It steadily propels the soul's rambles, pilgrimages, and ascents.
I wonder if follow-through can become a habit. It is certainly a discipline – a practice I seek to cultivate and deepen. I aspire to the art of finishing; I suffer the empty ache of failing to finish.
Copyright Scott Burnett 2006
Clear, productive thinking can’t be sustained without honesty. Without it, cognition gets tangled, threadbare, compromised, structurally unsound…
Curiosity – an appetite for discovery – is a sustainable fuel. It steadily propels the soul's rambles, pilgrimages, and ascents.
I wonder if follow-through can become a habit. It is certainly a discipline – a practice I seek to cultivate and deepen. I aspire to the art of finishing; I suffer the empty ache of failing to finish.
Copyright Scott Burnett 2006
Friday, October 20, 2006
Joy (emotional strength)
“This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." Nehemiah 8:9b
I pulled these words out of their context, which is not a recommended practice. However, I believe the heart of what Nehemiah stated here is a universally transferable truth. The joy of the Lord is your strength…
In my experience, there is a sense – maybe more than a sense… maybe it’s closer to an assurance – of “all-rightness” that seems to be related to the presence* of God. It is not always rational or even explainable; sometimes it is flatly counterintuitive. But it’s as though the Creator smiles, touches, communicates, “It’s going to be alright.”
Sometimes joy violates my sense of justice. I might attenuate my celebration of someone’s good fortune because it strikes me as dissonant to their choices. This embarrasses me; I’m committed to learning a better, more generous-hearted way.
Sometimes I abstain from joy because I don’t think it’s congruent with my circumstances. I recognize my ridiculousness in this, but can still be very stubborn about it. Joy isn’t a wage – it’s a gift. Once received, it enlivens and empowers the rest of life.
*God's Presence is a huge topic unto itself -- one I'm not up to tackling today...
Copyright Scott Burnett 2006
I pulled these words out of their context, which is not a recommended practice. However, I believe the heart of what Nehemiah stated here is a universally transferable truth. The joy of the Lord is your strength…
In my experience, there is a sense – maybe more than a sense… maybe it’s closer to an assurance – of “all-rightness” that seems to be related to the presence* of God. It is not always rational or even explainable; sometimes it is flatly counterintuitive. But it’s as though the Creator smiles, touches, communicates, “It’s going to be alright.”
Sometimes joy violates my sense of justice. I might attenuate my celebration of someone’s good fortune because it strikes me as dissonant to their choices. This embarrasses me; I’m committed to learning a better, more generous-hearted way.
Sometimes I abstain from joy because I don’t think it’s congruent with my circumstances. I recognize my ridiculousness in this, but can still be very stubborn about it. Joy isn’t a wage – it’s a gift. Once received, it enlivens and empowers the rest of life.
*God's Presence is a huge topic unto itself -- one I'm not up to tackling today...
Copyright Scott Burnett 2006
Monday, October 02, 2006
Peace (& Humor)
Peace is elemental to Emotional Balance; in fact, it fundamentally impacts the health of the whole person.
“A heart at peace gives life to the body,
but envy rots the bones.” Proverbs 14:30 (NIV)
The ancient Hebrew idea of shalom connoted wholeness and well-being: physical, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual. It’s this sort of peace that Jesus promised his followers in John 14:27.
For me, one way of cultivating peace is to practice nonviolence: interior (toward my own soul), interpersonal (toward other souls), and environmental (toward creation’s soul).
And I’ve found that the power of Humor mustn’t be underestimated in these pursuits. Laughter is not a luxury; it’s impossible to engage the fullness of life without it.
Copyright Scott Burnett 2006
“A heart at peace gives life to the body,
but envy rots the bones.” Proverbs 14:30 (NIV)
The ancient Hebrew idea of shalom connoted wholeness and well-being: physical, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual. It’s this sort of peace that Jesus promised his followers in John 14:27.
For me, one way of cultivating peace is to practice nonviolence: interior (toward my own soul), interpersonal (toward other souls), and environmental (toward creation’s soul).
And I’ve found that the power of Humor mustn’t be underestimated in these pursuits. Laughter is not a luxury; it’s impossible to engage the fullness of life without it.
Copyright Scott Burnett 2006
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