“Be lowly wise.”
--The angel Raphael to Adam, in Paradise
Lost
This
is prudent advice for a teacher of teenagers. Certainly I need to be a wise
teacher for my innocent and often bewildered students, but I need to always
remember how vast is the sea of ignorance inside me, from which small fish of
wisdom leap only occasionally, and always in a swift and evanescent manner. Sure,
I have some knowledge to share, but I must keep in mind that what I don’t know would fill all the oceans of
the world. I am not getting any younger (71 and counting), but in terms of
insight and discernment I’m still a puzzled student a strange, measureless
world. Perhaps Raphael is telling Adam to be wise in a modest way, to be
“smart”, yes, but to also be aware and accepting of his ignorance, because from
that “lowly” ignorance can spring, now and then, a small but stunning flash of
wisdom.
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