Wisdom of Poetry, Music, Art, and Job

Wisdom, Prophets, and Influencers: Week 3

We have dwelt on the wisdom of wise saying and the logical conclusion of every exploration under the sun. However, it is worth considering the way in which wisdom is delivered. The medium (the canvas and form) informs the message of wisdom. The method of communication plays an important role in understanding the wisdom at hand. Language, aesthetics, and format are all vehicles for understanding. So, words that are figurative and imaginative evoke more than just the words on the page.

In art and poetry there is deep wisdom, although it may seem hidden and complex. The author, artist or poet attempts to communicate something with images, sounds, feelings, and emotions.

For a moment, let’s consider the poets who have impacted our world and our understanding of life. Not just the ancients, but the poets of the modern age who have offered wisdom about such things as love, hate, morality, salvation, bitterness and comfort.

Listen to the following poem by Robert Frost, “Fire and Ice.” Even if you are familiar with the words, let your ears take it in, experiencing the beauty of this wisdom in a different way.

Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I’ve tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

-Robert Frost

Also consider the wisdom of poetry and metaphor set to music. We are probably most familiar with this type of expression in our modern world. And you probably already know how a song can move someone emotionally, in a way that simple spoken or read words cannot do.

Sit back and listen to the wisdom expressed by the Avett Brothers in “The Ballad of Love and Hate”.

What is the value of wisdom communicated by poem or song? How does this impact your understanding?

In the Bible, there are many examples of poetic communication in wisdom literature. Today we will focus on the wisdom experienced in the book of Job. This could have been communicated in a simple outline of doctrine, a dry narrative account, but the poetic structure feels more of an imaginative movie, scenes of heroes and villains, and a meeting of the un-meetable Almighty in the end.