Ironic. Very Ironic. Ironic because under normal circumstance, the age you attain should correlate simultaneously with your level of wisdom. As the akan maxim goes “if the only prerogative for a selected few is adulthood, not the privilege of being a child which has been experience by all and sundry” so the older you become, the higher the expectation that you might have been through the ups and downs in life which the younger ones are now experiencing. Such that you have acquired better understanding and requisite wisdom to be able to deal with such life issues than the younger ones. But it is disappointingly ironic that a phrase such as the caption of this article has developed roots and settled in our daily discourse due to reverse happenings in our societies almost every day.
Wisdom is the quality of having experience, discernment, common sense, knowledge and good judgment or the quality of being wise.
In the bible, the beginning of wisdom is acknowledging that there is a God who created the heaven and earth and everything in it, including you, so you will worship and honour him. Prov 9:10
Age can be defined as the lifespan of living things in general, and human beings in particular.
I had an opportunity to listen to a renowed motivational speaker who spoke to the effect that, you can easily become successful in things which you have been gifted, talented, anointed or trained for it. Wisdom is purely a gift from God. But if what he said is anything to go by, then you can also be trained or anointed to acquire wisdom.
The fear of the Lord is just the beginning of wisdom. But if you want the full package, it requires continuous study, common sense, discernment, knowledge and good judgment among others. So in the 21st century where technology has been rampant and through social media, one can learn as much as he would want to without having to pay for it, if you underestimate anybody, you do that at your own risk.
The proverbial caption of this article is premised on two of our (human race) ancestors. Methuselah is the oldest being to have ever lived. He passed on at the age of 969. King Solomon is the only being to have been given wisdom directly from God to rule his people. So symbolically, if we the name methuselah is mentioned, it represents old age whiles the name king Solomon represent wisdom. But practically, methuselah’s record age never meant that his wisdom outweighed a relatively much younger king Solomon in the course of their respective lives.
It must also be quickly pointed out, if what king Solomon said in prov 9:10 is anything to go by that, if the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, then most children have taken that wiser ahead of most adults. To be honest, every honest person will agree, that there have been series of strange decisions ones taken by old people both close and distant, that has shocked many younger people with less knowledge and experience, who would have done better if they were faced with similar situations and almost every one.
In the advanced countries, this phrase is fully understood and young people are given the chance to contribute in decision making and play their part at both home and national level but in a third world country like Ghana, unless you have some connections, everything the aged says, whether good or bad, is pathetically final.
We all talk about democracy and how dictatorial our leaders rule us, but just the act of I am the oldest, therefore the wisest, is also the same. We can learn from each other as people irrespective of age because things have changed. Your age does not define your level of maturity, but what comes from your mouth. If someone is 90yrs but his mannerism and temperament is like a 20yr old, he shouldn’t cry foul if he is accorded his needed 20yr old respect. Also if someone is 20yrs and his/her mannerism is like a 20yr old or more, kudos!!!
Join GhanaStar.com to receive daily email alerts of breaking news in Ghana. GhanaStar.com is your source for all Ghana News. Get the latest Ghana news, breaking news, sports, politics, entertainment and more about Ghana, Africa and beyond.