Exploring the subject of wisdom is like looking at different facets of a diamond and even more so when we add an infinite reference point. As my co-host Elliott Frisby and I continue our conversation on what it means to define wisdom with respect to the Divine, we face the insight that our secular world conditions us to believe this life is all there is and that is all that matters. However, the fact is all religious traditions for thousands of years are agreed there is more to life than what we experience in this world. Indeed modern secular belief is out of keeping with much of human thinking since the dawn of time. It is not possible to make sense of this finite world without an infinite reference point. Do join us in this conversation as we explore: How the concept of emotional intelligence overlaps with wisdom, but is also different. The role of the Jewish carpenter in understanding wisdom. How the books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Job look at wisdom from different angles. How understanding wisdom is not just an intellectual exercise, but has a calling on how I fundamentally conduct my life. The link to the podcast is below. You can also watch the conversation on video here.

Making Sense of Life

10 Dancing With Wisdom: Exploring the Diamond

In our quest for wisdom it is vital to grasp that this is much more than simply making better decisions or getting what we think is best for us. Understanding wisdom in all its richness gets to the heart of what it means to be human. It is as intense as thinking about the wonder of a baby’s birth. While the physiological and genetic details of birth are well understood and documented, a scientific approach does not account for the wonder of bringing a new life into the world. I remember as a medical student witnessing a birth. On one level, this was another of the 130 million born every year into the world. But for me, as a raw eighteen-year-old, it was a profoundly reverent experience. As the writer Eugene Peterson puts it: "In the presence of birth we are at the source of life . . . Here is a mystery, but a mystery of light, not darkness, full of goodness, brimming with blessing. Every birth powerfully recalls us to this source: we have our origins in someone other than ourselves, and greater than ourselves." There is something of this awe and wonder when we approach the subject of wisdom. It is wisdom that enables us to realise and appreciate we are far more than our own existence and the narrow world we live in with our preoccupations, doubts, fears, insecurities and often petty concerns. Through wisdom we are invited into an encounter. This is an encounter with the God of the universe - The Ultimate Infinite Intelligence. Not a god of our convenience or that measures up to the best parts of who we aspire to be, but as the One who is more in control than we are and sees way beyond what we can see. In this podcast discussion with my cohost Elliott Frisby we explore: How God is intimately connected to the challenges of our life. The importance of getting past our own prejudices and assumptions around who we think God to be. God as the highest ideal we aspire for and long to be. A definition of God as " a Spirit, infinite, eternal and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness truth." Engaging with a worldview that believes there is no God The Biblical worldview and wisdom. How we need something more than just our subjective feelings (or as Elliott describes 'goosebumps'!) to know we are encountering God's wisdom How wisdom challenges our assumptions about life and ultimate reality. The link to the podcast is below. You can also watch the conversation on video here.

09 Dancing With Wisdom: Defining Wisdom with the Divine

Do you find some people really annoying? The things they say or the way they behave can be so bothersome and irritating. I know I do and I am sure I am not alone in that! We say things like ‘she makes me so mad’ or ‘he frustrates and irritates me so much’. And maybe there are legitimate things that the other person says or does which are understandably frustrating and annoying. However, the diagram below (from Stephen Covey’s book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People) challenges those assumptions in some radical ways. In Biology at school we learnt that for simple organisms like an amoeba or relatively straight forward structures like the knee joint, there is a predictable response to a stimulus. You prod an amoeba and it goes in a certain direction. Or you strike the front of the knee and you get an involuntary knee jerk reaction. But we as human beings are much more complex than that. Granted most people do react to circumstances, but just because they do does not mean you and I have to do the same. The fact is that for human beings between stimulus and response is a space. In that space we have the power to choose how we respond. If you think about the word ‘responsibility’ you will notice it is from 2 words – response and ability. In other words responsibility is the ability to choose your response. An extreme example illustrates this….. Victor Frankl was a Jewish psychiatrist caught in the terrible and brutal horrors of a concentration camp in Nazi Germany. Apart from his sister, his entire family perished. For Frankl himself there was torture, physical and psychological abuse on an unimaginable scale. At any moment death could be around the corner or he could be called to remove dead bodies or shovel the ashes of fellow prisoners. It was in this truly horrific environment Frankl became aware of what he would later call ‘the last of the human freedoms’. It was a freedom his Nazi captors could not take away. His physical environment was completely controlled by others; he had no choice as to how he spent his day and his tormentors could do what they wanted to his body. He began to realise he was self-aware and could look at everything happening to him as a detached observer. There was a part of himself no one could touch. His identity did not have to be affected by all that was going on around him. In his mind Frankl created a small oasis that was impervious to all the brutality that was going on in his external environment. He could decide within himself how all this was going to affect him. Between what happened to him, or the stimulus, and his response to it, was his freedom or power to choose his response. Here is how Covey builds on this: “In the midst of his experiences, Frankl would project himself into different circumstances, such as lecturing to his students after his release from the death camps. He would describe himself in the classroom, in his mind’s eye, and give his students the lessons he was learning during his very torture. Through a series of such disciplines – mental, emotional and moral, principally using memory and imagination – he exercised his small embryonic freedom until it grew larger and larger, until he had more freedom than his Nazi captors. They had more liberty, more options to choose from in their environment; but he had more freedom, more internal power to exercise his options. He became an inspiration to those around him, even to some of the guards. He helped others find meaning in their suffering and dignity in their prison existence.” Yes it is an extreme example, but it illustrates how through stimulus (the irritation or external suffering) and response (how we think and behave) there is the freedom to choose. Within this freedom to choose, and in addition to self-awareness, we can call upon: Imagination – that is the ability to create in our minds something beyond our present reality.

08 Dancing With Wisdom: How to cope with irritations

"What you don't know can't hurt you." Such is a famous English saying. The problem is it assumes much which is frankly wrong. Think of a fish (hang in with me, this is going somewhere!) If you ask a fish to describe the water it is swimming in, and if it could answer, it would not know what to say because the water is all it knows about its existence. The water just is and naturally cannot be questioned as it is assumed to be always there. Now, surprise surprise, we are not fish (another profound thought!) But we also make assumptions about life and our environment that we don't naturally question. We have assumptions about ourselves and life that we take for granted as they are so much a part of the world around us. They can hold us back from discovering the wisdom we are called to live by. By understanding and challenging those assumptions we can learn to begin to dance with wisdom in spite of all the complexity or confusion we commonly see around us. In this podcast conversation with my cohost Elliott Frisby we discuss three common myths when it comes to wisdom: Wisdom is the same as common sense. Wisdom comes with age and time If I live with wisdom then everything in my life will naturally go well and according to my plans and ideas. Such assumptions can seriously hold us back from living life with the purpose and fulfilment we were intended for. We need wisdom to appropriately handle and overcome the irritations and frustrations of life; the intractable problems we face in getting things done and most importantly to face the major devastations we will ultimately face in terms of death and other disasters. A sobering example of that is King Solomon who lived in the 10th century BC and was described as the richest and wisest man of his time. Yet in spite of this Solomon made some significant misjudgements and mistakes in his own life that lead to a tragic overall evaluation by his Creator. After you have listened to the podcast can you think of any other assumptions that may hold us back from dancing with wisdom? Life’s challenges can diminish, define or develop you. Which will it be? The choice is yours through wisdom. Make sure you choose the right one. The link to our 27 minute conversation is below. You can also watch our conversation on YouTube here  

07 Dancing With Wisdom: Challenging our Assumptions

What do you think of when you hear the word idols? Eastern religious statues or the famous world-wide TV show popularised by Simon Cowell? Whatever your answer I want to show you how essential understanding our own personal idols and removing them are to learning to dance with wisdom.  There are many secular and religious examples of idols. Indeed more than 500 years ago Martin Luther described the human heart as 'an idol factory'. What did he mean by that? Is such a statement still relevant to us in our modern age? I very much think it is. Perhaps the simplest explanation of idolatry is that we are continually looking for something to give us ultimate meaning, purpose and significance. We may not be even consciously aware that is what we are doing. Our hearts are continually putting weight and significance on objects and desires that cannot ultimately deliver all we long and hope for. Our worldwide economy can often seem based on our hunger to buy more and more to satisfy deep longings. As someone has humorously said, "We buy what we don't want with money we don't have to impress people we don't even like!" The atheist American author and professor of English David Foster Wallace surprisingly calls this insatiable desire for more as worship. When we worship someone or something we give it our committed attention and focus. Its where our minds go to when we have nothing in particular to think about. So worship is primarily an attitude of the heart seeking rest and consolation. Do join my cohost Elliott Frisby and I as we unpack this and discuss: the attraction of idolatry how it cannot ultimately satisfy how the finiteness of this world causes us to yearn for something this world can ultimately never fulfil. the big 3 idols of money, sex and power. how an important wisdom skill is the ability to recognise when I am veering into idolatry how the path of wisdom includes following your fears and frustrations to unmask those idols controlling you. Life's challenges can diminish, define or develop you. Which will it be? The choice is yours through wisdom. Make sure you choose the right one. Listen to the 25 minute conversation below to explore this more. What questions, thoughts or comments does the question of idols raise for you?

06 Dancing With Wisdom: Removing Our Idols

Do you have an ego problem? A few years ago I had an argument with my wife, Sally and I was challenged by how my ego was actually making things worse. But, before we get to that, what do we actually mean by ego? When we talk of someone having an ego, we're more than just stating a fact and we're certainly not offering them a compliment! The truth is we all have an ego. On our quest for wisdom why can ego cause such great problems in our own lives and the lives of others? Is there such a thing as a healthy amount of ego? If so we will need much wisdom to get that balance right! On this podcast do join my cohost Elliott Frisby and I as we discuss: How do I use my ego to help rather than hinder me? How ego is a problem both when I think too much and also too little of myself. Why the most dangerous thing in the world is unhealthy pride. What healthy pride looks like. The connection between a healthy ego and our toes! How do I develop the wisdom to recognise when my ego is getting out of control? When following an argument with my wife Sally I was challenged about my ego problem. What healthy ego can look like. Life's challenges can diminish, define or develop you. Which will it be? The choice is yours through wisdom. Make sure you choose the right one. Listen to the 25 minute conversation below to explore this more.

05 Dancing With Wisdom: Managing Our Ego

How do you navigate through life so as to not just survive, but actually thrive and even dance through the confusion and mess?  That is much easier said than done! More than we care to admit life is so often full of challenges and complex situations where we can feel at the end of our resources. How do we navigate our way through for the greater good of ourselves and others? In this podcast conversation we discuss the subject of wisdom for life. It's only a small subject to cover in 25 minutes! :) All around us we see disordered lives that arise from a lack of wisdom. That can start as a sense of disappointment or general frustration before leading, if unchecked, on to fear, dread, shame, worry, anxiety, stress, burnout, depression and even suicide. As a psychiatrist I have sadly seen those consequences in many people's lives. Our restless hearts are constantly looking for security and comfort, while our questioning minds can feel they are drowning in too much information. The result can be disordered lives with rising rates of mental illness and discontentment. The secular atheistic worldview that is so much a part of our lives cannot provide the meaningful answers we long for. On this podcast we discuss how the timeless truths of wisdom provide answers to: A path to learn and grow past the sorrow, sadness, suffering and sickness we see around us Something much more than the quick fix solutions of our age be that in terms of superficial entertainment, a tablet, victimhood, cynicism or self-righteous indignation. A way of understanding how while pain in life is inevitable miserable suffering is not necessarily so. The dangers of making happiness our main goal in life and why good news only makes sense in the context of bad news Understanding the two types of regret and why it is important to be able to tell the difference. Life's challenges can diminish, define or develop you. Which will it be? The choice is yours through wisdom. Make sure you choose the right one. Listen to the 25 minute conversation below to explore this more.

04 Dancing With Wisdom: Wisdom for Life

We live in the age of information. Perhaps it is more accurate to say we are drowning in the information constantly presented to us. In previous generations it took 1000 years for human knowledge to double. Currently human knowledge doubles every 12 hours! Is it any surprise that we struggle to keep up? But our minds and souls need so much more than just information. We need wisdom. Our restless minds struggle to make sense of life with all the information coming at us from all sorts of directions. We are so much more than our minds. We are body, mind and spirit that are interconnected and inter-related in marvellous and complex ways. On this podcast conversation do come and join my co-host Elliott Frisby and myself as we discuss: Our fundamental need for human connection that technology can only partly satisfy. How do we create the space in our lives to remain focussed on what is truly important and not be distracted by the latest and loudest? The importance of silence and solitude to handle negative thoughts that come from our restless minds. Lessons from my own personal burnout during 2008-9. The role of Biblical scripture in our lives during times of silence and solitude. How when I worry I am attempting to control the universe - a job that has already been taken by someone else! Why it is important to not believe everything you think, but to think carefully about what you believe.

03: Wisdom For The Mind

Understanding wisdom is not a one-off event, but the quest of a lifetime. A quest is long search for something difficult to find or an attempt to achieve something difficult. A quest is different from an adventure. In a adventure, you choose to go out on an exciting journey. It spices up your life and then you come back home to pick up where you left off. By contrast a quest is not something you choose. Rather, the quest chooses you. You are called to it because of what is going to be demanded of you. In many ways the person you are at the beginning never really comes back from a quest. Either you die on the quest or, if you do come back, you are so fundamentally changed that you are not the same person as when you set out. Understanding wisdom is something of a quest. The more you learn the more you want to know. It is also incredibly life-enhancing and enriching. Acquiring wisdom is not like walking through a door for it to be given to you - game over. If it were a door you would only have to be given the key, turn the latch, and, hey presto, wisdom would be yours. The day-to-day media in particular leads us to expect such an easy result in our modern lives; that success is guaranteed by following only very simple steps. The power of technology encourages us to expect a limited set of straightforward steps for a quick and easy solution This second podcast conversation with my co-host Elliott Frisby is about wisdom for the heart. We discuss the circumstances around the sudden death of my friend, Abhishek Banerjee on 17 March 2014 and how that was a defining moment in my own life on my quest for wisdom. We discuss what the implications can be us as we seek to make sense of life in this often cynical, chaotic and confusing world. You can access the podcast on iTunes, your favourite podcast platform or watch on YouTube! For the iTunes link see here For the 26 minute YouTube video do see the YouTube channel If you haven’t yet downloaded the introduction to the book then you can do so from the home page. Who could you share that with? Also have you signed up for my virtual book launch on 17 March at 5.55pm -7.30pm GMT (1.55-3.30pm ET and 11.25pm -2am IST)? There is still time to do so at this link here Do feel free to leave your comments or questions from the podcast.    

02 Dancing With Wisdom: Wisdom for the Heart

From Making Sense of Life to Dancing With Wisdom! I'm delighted to announce Season 2 Episode 1!  On Series 2 Episode 1 of the Dancing With Wisdom Podcast we explore the question of Why Wisdom? Do come and join my new podcast host, Elliott Frisby and I as we explore this question in detail. Elliott gives us the dictionary definition of wisdom as "The ability to make sensible decisions and give good advice because of the experience and knowledge that you have." In our conversation we explore why wisdom is much more than that simple definition. Instead wisdom is about connecting us to timeless truths in a world which we find is increasingly cynical, confusing, complex and chaotic. The explosion of choices around us only adds to this. Indeed it could be argued that we are the most over-informed and under-reflective civilisation in human history. There are three questions we are going to seek to unpack in this and future conversations: Why do some people grow and develop in their lives in incredible ways? How are some people not just productive, but able to be at peace with themselves and others? How do such people think, feel and behave to flourish so well in their lives? We unpack wisdom as timeless truths that can connect you with the ultimate best version of who you are and who you long to be. It is about making sense of life in the fullest sense. You can access the podcast on iTunes, your favourite podcast platform or watch on YouTube! For the iTunes link see here For the 26 minute YouTube video see here If you haven't yet downloaded the introduction to the book then you can do so from the home page. Who could you share that with? Do feel free to leave your comments or questions.    

01 Dancing With Wisdom: Why Wisdom?

What makes this interview particularly fascinating is that it was recorded in January 2020 before the start of the global […] The post Podcast #066: Peter Kerridge and his vision for the church in the next 25 years appeared first on Dr. Sunil Raheja.

Podcast #066: Peter Kerridge and his vision for the church in the next 25 years

As we continue our conversation with Peter Kerridge, chief executive of Premier Christian Communications, we ask him a variety of […] The post Podcast #065: Leadership lessons from Peter Kerridge appeared first on Dr. Sunil Raheja.

Podcast #065: Leadership lessons from Peter Kerridge

How does God guide an insurance salesman, self-confessed worrier and part time radio commentator to start what would become one […] The post Podcast #064: Peter Kerridge and the story behind Premier Christian Radio appeared first on Dr. Sunil Raheja.

Podcast #064: Peter Kerridge and the story behind Premier Christian Radio

On this podcast we continue our conversation with Amanda Clegg about her book co-written with Victoria Byrne, “Hope and Spice: Authentic recipes and stories of transformation from the slums of Delhi.” Its one thing to have a good idea, but its another to see that idea through to completion. That is even more so for … Podcast #063: Life lessons from a remarkable cookbook Read More »

Podcast #063: Life lessons from a remarkable cookbook

Cook books are hugely popular the world over. Amanda Clegg and Victoria Byrne have together written a cook book that is unique in so many ways to the vast number that are out there. On this podcast I have the privilege of interviewing Amanda about her book “Hope and Spice: Authentic recipes and stories of … Podcast #062: Much more than your average cook book! Read More »

hubhopper

Making Sense of Life

hubhopper