We have all seen those Reality TV Shows that encourage strangers to show off their talents. Though some are very good, others are so bad that they are embarrassing. Assuming that they are not all unemployed actors playing a part, you have to wonder how people with so little talent ever imagined that they could compete on the world stage.
Everyone goes through stages where they believe themselves to be the sole proprietor of the Corner of Wisdom. But if that never describes you, then I’m sure you will concede that all of us have blind spots. The problem with blind spots is that they are encouraged by a team of charitable, but unwise enablers. However, it is one thing to let a man kid himself that he can sing like Frank Sinatra, but quite another to let a man kid himself that he has the wisdom of Solomon.
It is in areas of serious disagreement that our true judgements expose themselves. Conflict fosters an atmosphere of distrust, and at the root of that distrust sits questions about the other person’s ability to “see the forest for the trees.” Rather than just writing each other off as unteachable, we must humbly attempt to see our “truth” from the other person’s point of view. This calls for wisdom.
I have learned the hard way that being willing to concede that I might be as blind to truth as I think the other person to be, has opened hearts and minds to productive dialogue faster than my folded arms and the dismissive look on my face.
In fact, the best thing to do is to approach someone as if you were greeting the wisest of people.
Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behaviour his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom” (James 3:13).
John Staiger
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