[067] Divinely Inspired — and Deliberately Vague

Story #067

Divinely Inspired — and Deliberately Vague

Max J Miller

June 29, 2026

After my step-mother’s memorial last weekend in Illinois, my cousin, Amy, and I drove to Michigan so I could spend some time with her and see a few other relatives.

Amy and I have a special bond. Our fathers were brothers, and both had extraordinary lives and died young. She’s the second daughter. I’m the second son. We’re both gay, and we share many passions and interests in the arts, spirituality, and world affairs.

Never short of topics to discuss, we shared some laughs and a few tears along the way.

She asked me to read a couple Wisdom Wayfinder essays to her. When I finished reading a particularly embarrassing story, Amy looked at me intently. “You know,” she said, “You handled those conversations with your brothers with such grace and finesse.”

“Those particular conversations could have been minefields,” I replied.

“I would say you’ve become quite wise in your third act,” Amy said with a grin and a raised eyebrow.

I felt a temptation to deflect Amy’s compliment, but instead I paused and took it in. Yes, I handled several difficult situations at this gathering in ways that would have been unrecognizable to my younger self.

As my late father used to ask when life was unpredictable, “How did THAT happen?”

Last week, I wrote about recognizing wisdom in a grandmother and scout leaders. At the time, I didn’t have the name for it. Today, I recognize wisdom in others and, occasionally, even in myself.

Yet, I still find it challenging to define or to fully describe.

This week, in this quest to characterize wisdom more comprehensively, I reached for familiar sources.

I reread several biblical passages from the Hebrew ‘wisdom texts’ of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. And from the Christian bible, I reread the book of James, which has much to say about wise living.

The first thing I noticed was that the biblical writers don’t explicitly define wisdom. 

They tend to contrast it with its equally undefined opposite: foolishness.

“A fool finds pleasure in wicked schemes, but a person of understanding delights in wisdom.” – Proverbs 10:23

Some wisdom, according to the Bible, is shown in action:

“Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.” –– James 3:13

Other passages emphasize wisdom as shown in speech:

“The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of sense.” – Proverbs 10:21

“The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools gush folly.” – Proverbs 15:2

But the bible seems to say much more about the wisdom of knowing when not to speak:

“Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise: when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.” — Proverbs 17:28

“Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance.” – Proverbs 1:5

One passage in James begins to give wisdom some contour:

“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” — James 3:13;16-18

Reading that last passage by James, I was reminded of Jesus famous ‘Sermon on the Mount.’ Among his beatitudes, he included these:

  • Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

  • Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the Sons of God.

  • Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the Earth.

  • Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
    — Matthew 5:3-10


What struck me, sitting with these passages, is that neither the Proverbs writers nor James nor even Jesus seems interested in giving us a clean definition. They circle it. They praise its fruits. They contrast it with folly. They describe what the wise do and don’t say and feel — but they never quite say what wisdom is.

For a collection of texts considered divinely inspired, that feels like a bit of a dodge.

Maybe they were protecting trade secrets. Or maybe — and I think this is closer to the truth — wisdom is one of those things that can’t be downloaded. It has to be lived into. The ancient writers could point at it, illustrate it, sing about it, and warn us what happens without it. But hand it to us on a silver platter? Apparently, that wasn’t in the approved curriculum.

Amy saw something in me at that gathering that I hadn’t quite named for myself. The biblical writers saw something in the wise that they couldn’t quite name either. And somehow, across three thousand years of trying, we’re all still circling the same beautiful mystery.

Which makes me wonder: maybe the circling is the point.

When has someone else recognized wisdom in you before you recognized it in yourself — and what did that moment teach you about where wisdom actually lives?

Shine,

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