A post I wrote a while back on “smart vs wise” turns out to have been one of the most popular on this blog. It seems that people are frequently asking themselves this question.
This simple reflection from an “in memoriam” piece in today’s Age seems to get at the notion of wisdom as I understand it:
A bridge can just be a bridge but this bridge is also a reminder
that my father meant more to the people of Moggs Creek than I could
ever know. He didn’t seem to have done anything out of the
ordinary. He was not a firefighter or a lifesaver. He was not a
councillor or a campaigner. But he was a friendly, helpful person,
which is as much as we can ask of anyone.
“Your father was prepared to share his time and his expertise
freely,” says Margaret McDonald. “Among a few of us, he was
affectionately known as the mayor of Moggs Creek. He knew everyone
and what was going on but was not concerned with other people’s
business.
“There was an astuteness about him. Just through his questioning
he led you to make decisions of your own, whether they were about
building or finance or gardening.
“He seemed to know just what was the right thing to do in a wide
range of things.”
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Tim van Gelder 
What an inspiring tribute! Such a Man of Virtue is a person worth honoring.
Tim,
Thank you for quoting my story about my father and the bridge named in his honour.
It is always heartening to know that my words, and in this instance my memories of my father, strike a chord with strangers.
Now that I have my own WordPress page, I plan to run the original version of the story (which was somewhat longer than The Age version), perhaps on the anniversary of his death, in June.
Regards
Vin Maskell