Wisdom = Force X Distance?

It is perhaps universally understood that elders are not wise simply because they have been alive for a long time. They are wise because they have experienced more by virtue of the time they have been alive.

In that sense, maybe we can analogize Wisdom to Work (= Force X Distance). One can travel a very long distance through the journey of life by living for a lengthy amount of time; but without the “force of experience,” one can pass through life without doing much learning. Of course, that is not the nature of life: everyone must go through something.

This idea that the nature of life is a succession of ‘forces’ being applied unto one’s being reminds me of a famous verse from the Quran, where Allah says: “He does not bear (yukallifu) a soul except with that which it can carry.” The gravity of our trials can feel overwhelming at times, but we must not forget who it is applying the force: Allah. In Arabic, The word yukallifu (to place a burden) comes from the same root-word from which we say ‘a mother bears a child’. They are burdens whose origin is love — and hence, it is only fitting they be borne with love.

Our bodies will no doubt experience these forces as a great deal of toil and pressure, but we must remember that our souls experience hardship only as purification and refinement. For, the body is the dirt by which the heart becomes diamond. And what better gift is there to the beloved.