Growing In Wisdom From Knowledge

A religious sister in the Catholic Peace Weekly, recalls a time when studying in the States, she volunteered in a summer camp program where there were a number of Korean teenages. A swimming test during the camp showed the Korean students as good swimers with the right posture, similar to the best champion swimmers.

The swimming instructor was very pleased and praised the skills of the teenagers. He took the children to the deepest part of the pool and let them jump in turn. What happened surprised the sister and the instructor for they all began to struggle in the water. The instructor quickly jumbed into the water to help the teenagers.

The instructor ask incredulously—what in the world is going on? The teenagers answered simply: "My feet did not reach the ground." What does this mean?  They never had the chance to swim in an area where the water was over their heads, even though they had excellent swimming skills.

The instructor, who learned the reason went to the place were the 6 and 7 year old American children  were playing in the water. He was determined to teach the teenagers a lesson. He connected a pole to the sides of the pool and told the children to jump in, which only after a little hesitation, they all did. Coming up they grasped the pole.

The sister seeing what was happening never forgot even after the passage of many years. What did the Korean teenagers thing after seeing what happened? She was embarassed  to see what the results of the naked Korean educational experience was demonstrating. 'Intelligence' is learned knowledge; 'wisdom' is knowledge given life by experience. 

At the campsite, little children did not know how to swim, but had the wisdom to overcome the fear of the deep water. She  was so envious. How could such youngsters, age six or seven, bravely enter the deep water? She was greatly inpressed with the instructor who enabled these youngsters to do precisely that.

Swimming is not simply a movement of hands and feet enabling the body to stay afloat. It's  finding the  wisdom of overcoming the fear of the depth of the water with the experience that comes with the ability to swim. However, our children had only knowledge  to swim and lacked the wisdom to survive in an unfamiliar environment. Experience is a wonderful teacher, which transforms stored knowledge into wisdom. Fear of what is strange and the uncomfortableness of an unforseen future is made acceptable.

We learn about life by living. It does not mean we need to learn to swim, but to go deeper in what we do and overcome fear. The difference between knowing and living is greater than we may think.
If I could only live what I knew, I would have already become an adult. However, when we hear a negative word, hear something nasty about ourselves, something we didn't want to hear, everything crumbles. My self esteem is hurt. Emotions are often products of our experiences without the learning from wisdom.

We need to go into the deep. If I swim only in the shallow places, the world will change and I will remain in the same place. I will be confined by the same thoughts and attitudes and fail to know my true self and grow. I will be stuck at home plate.