I’ve often wondered what kind of wisdom and knowledge was archived in the great library at Alexandria. Was there wisdom and knowledge in the library comparable to what Solomon possessed? How would the troubled arc of history have been altered if such knowledge had been preserved? We shall never know.

Last year, I stood in the ruins of the magnificent Celsus library at Ephesus. What happened to the 12,000 scrolls once housed there? Would Ephesus have thrived if the wisdom and knowledge in those scrolls had been preserved? Provided guidance to the affairs of the Ephesians? Despite the best efforts of many over the centuries to outlaw and extirpate the Old and New Testaments and other writings, ancient Jewish wisdom literature found in Proverbs, Psalms, Job, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, the Book of Wisdom, the Wisdom of Sirach, and to some extent Baruch has been preserved.

The greatest libraries of antiquity have been lost, yet this priceless wisdom is still informing and guiding the lives of hundreds of millions. The world has become my library.

As I wander around the world, trusting assorted jet pilots, ship captains, bus drivers, and others to take me to interesting inspirational places, to be a student of the world, I’m reminded all these places are merely intermediate stops on my journey. Yet, there are lessons and experiences awaiting me at every stop.

Wisdom has often been described as the alloy of knowledge and experience. When I allow the knowledge and wisdom of those going before me to be conjoined with the sometimes very challenging experiences of my own life journey, I have a chance of growing up, with increasing faith and resilience.

These essays are brief glimpses into challenges, tests of faith, and insights I’ve recently had in places as diverse as Dublin, the Negev Desert, Istanbul, Manhattan, and the bike path across from my house. My goal is to incorporate this wisdom of the ages into all the affairs of my life.

I hope it shows in these essays that I might even have had a modest bit of success. .

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