Poetry – Wonder is the beginning of wisdom

Wonder is the beginning of wisdom

 

Zillions of galaxies,

Cascading in whirls,

Complex human beings –

Men and women, boys and girls.

Peering up at the skies

With questioning eyes.

 

The biology of a cell

And nature of thought.

Like green chlorophyll

Mysteries cannot be taught.

They make us ponder and try

To understand why.

 

Infinite universes

Where time has no end.

The evolution of life

And the way characters blend.

Until time passes by

We’ll be wondering why.

 

The creation of life

So complex and strange.

The way atoms and molecules

Join and arrange.

We can ponder until Kingdom come

For wonder is the beginning of wisdom.

 

Opher – 13.11.2019

 

 

Socrates said that wonder was the beginning of wisdom. I always used to tell my students to believe nothing. We did not discover new wisdom by accepting the old stories.

This is an infinite universe. To understand it and how it works is the imperative of life. Curiosity is what makes us human. To wonder how things work is the way we move to understanding.

Life is another great mystery. To understand how life was created would be incredible. Nobody knows. To create gods to explain the things we do not yet understand seems irrational to me.

We should wonder, explore, think, investigate and delight. That is life.