Proverbs 11:14
Where there is no guidance, a people falls;
but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.
“If we see further than our ancestors,” said a medieval proverb, “it is because we stand on the shoulders of giants.” We live in age of individualism — or at least of pretended individualism. In reality, most of the people who chatter about “thinking for themselves” constitute what one wag called a “herd of independent minds.” Such people tend to mouth whatever the last TV pundit told them to think and to recite, sometimes almost word for word, the dull mantras of the spirit of the age. That’s why we’ve all heard “independent minds” say exactly the same “shocking” things a million times, as that “I don’t believe in organized religion, I believe in spirituality” and “People should do whatever they like as long as they don’t hurt anybody” and “Everything is relative.” Such “independent thought” is stunningly boring and platitudinous because it is the product of minds that only wish to be thought thoughtful, not minds that wish to actually think. Minds that wish to think try to supply themselves with input worth thinking about, not mass-produced, content-free media chatter. And that invariably means seeking guidance from wiser minds. That is the point of today’s verse. Wisdom seeks guidance and counsel. In so doing, it frequently winds up thinking and doing something that is genuinely independent, original, and worthwhile. Today, seek the abundant counsel of Scripture, the saints, and the Church of Jesus Christ, who is Wisdom incarnate.
