Seeking Wisdom

 

                Two men that lived a good life in the lofty county of Palmedian both received a note from a dark stranger.  No one had ever seen the man before and no one ever saw him again, so many say this story is unmerited.  Nevertheless he did come, and the note he bore read thus.  “Treasure great, treasure small, what you may find is not in a hall.  The wisest man will be great, but he must exit his own gate.  For untold wealth and splendor, speak with a lowly vendor.”

                Now you must know just a little of these men before we proceed with our tale.  Both men were kind and good; pleasant to be around, but their values were not the same.  The first man was headstrong, some would say somewhat foolish, and frivolous with his funds.  He acted much like a child, yet professed profound wisdom and knowledge.

                The second was as pleasant as the first, but he was quiet and smart with his money, and was praised as one of the wisest in the land, though he did not claim to be.  Many a person sought his help, and many left his home with a just and wise answer.

                The first man, when he had read his missive thought at once to himself, “I am a wise man; I do not need the help of a lowly vendor.  Someone may perhaps see me speaking with the vagabond and me reputation will be gone forever.  No, I believe I will go and search in the majestic mountains for this treasure; that is the only place worthy enough to hold such a gift.”  So he bade his household farewell, and started off on his trek for glory and power not heeding the specific instructions of the dark stranger.

                The second man pondered the note for a long while, wondering why the man had chosen him to receive the message, and what he would do with the treasure; he certainly had more than enough.  “If I do find it,” he reasoned, “I believe I will give it all to the poor of this town; they can use it much more than I can.”  So the first man went in search of the lowly vendor.  He was not very long in searching, for the first man he met in the street was an old man selling mud pottery that he had constructed with his own hands from the earth behind his hut.

                “Greetings father,” the wise man said.  He gave the old man a gold coin that would have bought twenty of the pots but asked for nothing.  “I am in search of a treasure, and was told I could find it with you.  Am I correct?”  The old man looked him up and down with a scrutinizing eye.

                “The treasure you seek may not be what you expect,” the potter replied working some mud vigorously in his palms.  “But you may have it.  A dark stranger gave me a large book two days ago and told me that a man such as yourself would come asking for a treasure.  He told me to give you that book.  Here it is.”  The man wiped off his hands, and handed the young fellow a great leather-bound book.  Written in gold letters on the cover were the words, “Proverbs of a Seeker.”

                “There is wisdom in that book that will bring you answers to most every question one can ask,” the old man said looking the younger square in the eye.  “The question I have for you now is what will you do with it?”

                “I will do as I would have had it been gold,” the wise man responded smiling.  “Give it to the poor.”

                Several months later, the man who had set out to the mountains returned empty handed.  He told no one why he had gone, and he didn’t know of his companion’s discovery.  He continued with his regular life, and died without remembrance.  The humble man used his gift all the time, helping people with their problems, and assisting the poor.  He later wrote a moral to his story.  It is found in Proverbs 14:6 “A scorner seeketh wisdom, and findeth it not: but knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth.  He lived a good, long life filled with riches and glory.  In fact you may have heard of him.  His name was Solomon.