Primer for the Young Man Who Would Be Wise
“Not by declaration but by dilemma…”
The Cross is Our Tautaulogy
You are not made wise by saying you are. You are not made strong by wishing it. The way forward opens not by declaration, but by dilemma. You come now to a narrowing, a testing: Two doors. Two brothers. Two teachings.
One brother says: “Life is yours to command. Take what you desire. Define yourself.”
The other says: “You are not your own. Bow low, and be taught by fear and fire.”
One door leads to mirrors and acclaim. The other to silence and scars. One teaching tells you to follow your truth. The other to find the Truth and follow Him. You grow now by choosing between them—and by knowing that you will never see all at once.
There is no map of your life that does not pass through fog. There is no wisdom that is not learned through partial sight. Wisdom is being refracted.
Like light in water, she bends around what you cannot grasp, slipping just beyond full view so that you must listen rather than stare. You must remember rather than demand. You must kneel. This is your call:
Not to become clever, but to be good.
Not to win arguments, but to win the soul.
Not to understand all things, but to fear God.
Signs Along the Way
Dilemma is not defeat. When you must choose, you are being invited to become more.
There are always two voices. One flatters, one burns. Listen for the one that wounds and heals.
Pain is not your enemy. It is the tutor of kings. Learn what it teaches before you seek comfort.
Refraction is not confusion. It is how God veils glory for the humble and conceals it from the proud.
You will not see everything. But you can walk in trust and grow in light.
The Fruit of Wisdom
The fruit of wisdom is not fast, not flashy. It is grown slow in silence. It is made in wrestling.
It looks like a man who speaks when he should, works when no one sees, confesses when wrong, stands when all fall, waits when the path is hidden, and fears Jesus Christ more than death.
The world offers many fruits. Most are sweet and poison. But the fruit of wisdom? It grows on the Tree of the Cross. It tastes like truth, even when bitter.
And once you have tasted it, you will not forget its flavor.
So choose.
But not like the fool, who declares.
Choose like the son who remembers the fire.
Choose like the man who bows before the dilemma,
and walks not in sight, but in fear of the One who sees.
🗝️ “The fear of Jesus Christ is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Prov. 1:7, adapted)
