Am I the ignorant one?
How do we know when we are around wise people? When the people around us are positive they are not the smartest person in the room. They actually authentically listen to others. How then do we go about living our the work of mercy called teaching the ignorant? Firstly, we do not call others ignorant. Secondly, we admit we too are ignorant. Out of all the scholars in history it is not realistic that we would someday be listed among them. If we do not have this type of humility, we would be wise to listen more than speak. How do we know if we have this type of humility? If we more often than not repeat things that wise people are historically known to say. Rarely do any of us have anything originally wise, but we can give credit for repeating wise things which we have heard. That shows intelligence, wisdom, and humility. I’m just repeating what I found to be known as Dunning-Krueger effect.
The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias where people with low ability or knowledge in a topic overestimate how good they are at it, while people with high ability often underestimate themselves.
I wonder if this is derived somewhat from Francis of Assisi attributed to saying, “that I not be understood as to understand.” or the Prophet Micah, “act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)
In our Christian calling to live mercifully we are indeed instructed to instruct others who appear to misunderstand, but the caution is that it very well could be us who need to be instructed. Unless we are repeating renowned scholarly individuals and generational wisdom we may want to be slower to speak. Imagine if users on social media followed this advise. Imagine if global leaders of muti-national organizations and elected officials of countries were truly this wise. We barely can control our own behavior that that is what we would be wise to primarily focus on. If only we did so, our actions would speak louder than any words we could say. Who am I repeating? Francis of Assisi again, I believe he modeled mercy quite well. What is he attributed for saying, “Preach The Gospel At All Times And If Necessary Use Words.”
I was strongly advised in taking up this preaching effort on mercy to be very careful and prudent. We do live for the next life so we will at times say or do things that will cost us in this life. There are some things that must be said, yet with great reserve. That comes from St Gregory the Great on his works expounding upon the Prophet Ezekiel. A wonderful read that I highly encourage. I’m still unpacking and digesting. I can nowhere provide a condensed brief. The phrase from this work of wisdom that truly inspires me and scares me (and gets me in trouble) is this. “It is better that scandal arises than the truth suppressed.” Oh my. Be very careful in living for the next life in using this one. It may cost you much in this life. I recommend using this only with extreme caution and sound guidance. I wonder how much fear exists in this life attributed to business and organization risk aversion which in reality suppresses the truth. I wonder. I plan on digging into this at some point.
Asking first, please help me understand, goes much further than throwing around truth bombs. Civil discourse please. If in doubt, pray with Ephesians 4. After praying with the entire chapter, reconsider if actions of example would speak wiser than anything from our mouth. This is an example of what I am seeking to attempt more often than not. Please forgive me when I don’t listen to what I just wrote.