Remember your geometry!

I remember when my dad sat in on my older sister’s 10^th grade geometry presentation during Parent/Teacher conferences back in the day.  The soon-to-be-retired teacher basically told the attending parents that geometry wasn’t all that important.

You just don’t say that parents, particularly one who is a Professional Engineer…

Dad must have been chewing on his slide rule to prevent himself from saying anything, until he got home that is.  I remember his frustration in that, at the very least, geometry teaches logical thinking and step-by-step problem solving. How is it that a math teacher missed the application of what he was teaching?

“Applied mathematics is a branch of mathematics that deals with mathematical methods that find use in science, engineering, business, computer science, and industry.” 

Thanks, Wikipedia!  And really, if I can’t apply what I’ve learned (in any area), then I haven’t actually learned it. 

Which includes wisdom.  It has been said that wisdom is knowing how to apply the knowledge we’re given, but that’s only a start.  There are plethora examples throughout history of applied knowledge that have been anything but wise. 

“Wisdom…is the ability to think and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense, and insight.”

This is where Wikipedia wades shoulder deep into muddy waters.  Common sense took a hike in the 1700’s with The Enlightenment, and insight in a secularly closed universe, (i.e., God doesn’t exist), is a very slippery slope based on the moral flavor of the day.

This is just another part of God Almighty that I take for granted.

 “For the reverence and fear of God are basic to all wisdom. Knowing God results in every other kind of understanding.”

And, as usual, the Apostle James puts his practical spin on it—

“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure and full of quiet gentleness. Then it is peace-loving and courteous. It allows discussion and is willing to yield to others; it is full of mercy and good deeds. It is wholehearted and straightforward and sincere.”

And should we find ourselves lacking in either of these applications, God’s got that covered also, since He is…

“…always ready to give a bountiful supply of wisdom to all who ask him…” 

All this to say that it’s not just about what I need to do in any given situation, but how, and perhaps most of all, why.  What is the motivation/intention behind my actions?  That is something often hidden to even my own heart, something that needs to be exposed and dealt with by a Heart greater than mine.

And sometimes, that is also a step-by-step process.  Spiritual Geometry, 101.

Proverbs 9:10; James 3:17; James 1:5  The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.