“Gold there is, and rubies in abundance, but lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel.” Knowledge is the true gift of life: to know who you are, to understand situations and people, to discern what is best, and to know what to do are some of the truest values of life. It’s rare because people get stuck in ruts, in their own perspectives, and in human things. People don’t learn the way they should. They don’t let the Holy Spirit take them where they need to go, because it’s too hard. It’s a long, hard road to this kind of knowledge, and very few find it. Very few have the persistence; very few can keep evaluating and internalizing their experiences and what they can learn from them; very few do the inner reflection that brings out true knowledge; and very few go through the sufferings and hard times that really make us learn. You see how hard this is? Why do you think our world is in such a mess? our schools? our churches? our politics? our businesses? I’m not trying to be negative—I’m just trying to get to the real guts of the text. Knowledge is more rare than precious jewels. Where can we find this person of knowledge? I think more to the point is: you do everything you can to BE this person. Each one of us should be on this road.
