Education gives you knowledge but life gives you wisdom. Many of the people I have interviewed for jobs and some of the people who work with me now are better educated than I am. Their education, however, is just a starting point. It is the foundation on which their life experience will build. I am a strong advocate of education. I think education, or lack of it, separates people more than anything, including race or gender. I wish now that I had given my formal education more attention when I was younger. The experience of life hopefully makes us wiser but that is not guaranteed. Older people are not necessarily wise and not all younger people are naive. Wisdom chooses its home. In the Rule of St Benedict, a 1500 year old guidebook for monasteries, the old are told to listen to the young for God often speaks through them. Likewise, the young are told to treat their elders with respect and to listen to them when they speak. Those of us who are older can learn from the young. It happens to me almost every day at work. However, those who are younger should realize that their parents and other older people…including co-workers…are not clueless. We've been down many roads in our lives and we have experienced many things that might prove helpful for those who have not yet had these experiences. Most of us have learned a few things along the way. The bottom line is that you should never should stop learning. To be a truly educated person, you must be open to everything that books and life teaches you and you must remember that education is also more than just having a skill. An educated person is a thinking person who can see the connectedness of life and knowledge and be able to apply that knowledge and wisdom to the continuing unfolding of life.
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