Manhood is a Mindset. J. Colin Trisler

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СКАЧАТЬ plays a role in my decision-making philosophy as a man in my forties. After all, the notion that the wrong choice could cause a man’s flesh to rot off, his eyeballs to sink into his skull, and his skeleton to disintegrate into dust all within a matter of seconds is the kind of idea that can (and probably should) recalibrate anybody’s understanding of the concept of consequences.

Let’s consider the scene. Donovan, the Nazi stooge, had one decision to make upon entering the ancient Grail chamber: choose the one true Holy Grail.1 But there was a twist. The true Grail was mixed in with dozens of other false grails. And anyone who sought to claim the Grail had but one chance to choose wisely. Drinking from the true Grail “will bring you life,” the guardian knight said. Drinking from the false grail, however, “will take it from you.” With the stakes set, Donovan scanned row after row of chalices and goblets with a gun in his hand and a blank stare of bewilderment in his eye. “I’m not a historian,” he said. “I have no idea what it looks like. Which one is it?”

      The multitude of choices overwhelmed him. The pressure of having only one shot to choose the one true Grail from an excess of options paralyzed his mind. So instead of choosing for himself, he deferred to the judgment of a supposed expert: the beautiful-but-untrustworthy Austrian professor. He allowed her to make his choice for him. This, of course, resulted in Donovan’s aforementioned destruction.

      “He chose poorly,” as the knight put it when Donovan drank from a false grail and melted away.

      Donovan was a ruthless and self-absorbed man with a bad habit of making bad choices. That one short sip from the false grail was the bad decision that cost him his life. But it was hardly the first poor choice he had made in this story. A slew of bad choices got him to that point in the first place and contributed his demise.

      These bad choices included:

       Lusting after the power of the Grail and attempting to manipulate the mighty hand of God to fulfill his own corrupt ends.

       Aligning himself with bad influences. In his case, the Nazis—or the armies of darkness, as Indy’s father aptly labeled them.

       Compromising his integrity by lying and cheating his way into the Grail chamber.

       Failing to possess the proper knowledge, especially regarding the character of Christ. As a result, he failed to make a wise decision as to which cup was the true Grail and which ones were deadly imposters.

       And in his final act of foolishness, surrendering the authority of his own mind to someone else—that is, letting the beautiful-but-untrustworthy Austrian professor make up his mind for him. This foolishness cost him his life.

      Donovan’s pursuit of the Grail proved to be a quest of self-destruction because his decision-making skills were inept (to put it mildly). Indiana Jones, however, won the day by making a series of wise choices, proving yet again why he’s the most industrious swashbuckling hero this side of Han Solo.

      Indy’s wise choices included:

       Fearing the power of God and respecting the power of the Holy Grail.

       Partnering with his wise father, Henry Jones Sr., and utilizing his guidance to succeed in his mission.

       Drawing upon his own vast knowledge of facts and employing a strong sense of reason to make informed choices. Examples include: using his father’s instructions to successfully navigate the lethal challenges in the Grail temple, and properly understanding the character of Jesus (“That’s the cup of a carpenter,” Indy said as he grabbed the cup of Christ) to discern the true Grail from the false ones.

       Backing up his decisions with action. Indiana Jones as a character is a rare breed of alpha male who is both intelligent and courageous. He’s smart enough to develop a plan and skilled enough to carry it out. He thinks quickly on his feet and never allows opposition stop him from achieving his goals.

       Being mentally strong enough to think for himself. Unlike Donovan, Indy didn’t need to rely on someone else to do his thinking for him. In the Grail chamber, he took responsibility for his own mind and made his own decision. And as a result, he chose wisely, as the knight said.

      Son, as Indiana Jones proved, reality forces every man to make choices. Every day you will have decisions to make. Real-world decisions that your life depends on. If you want to find true success, a Donovan-esque evasion of this responsibility is out of the question.

      The only question is: Day in and day out, will you make good choices or bad choices?

      Wise decisions lay the groundwork for a life of meaning and productivity. A life worth living. And while not all bad choices immediately result in your face melting off, every bad choice does plague your life with wasted time and lost opportunities and long-term suffering.

      The real world, as it turns out, has a lot more in common with that ancient Grail chamber than we realize. Every day the world is going to present you with a multitude of choices to make. The right choice can lead to abundant life, while any one of the wrong choices can result in certain failure. This overabundance of options has the power to overwhelm your thought process. It can paralyze your mind and make the truth seem ambiguous or even impossible to discover. Thus making the wise choice and finding that one right answer in any given situation can be difficult because there are often multiple answers that look and feel like the right answer.

      If such everyday decisions have the potential to impact a man’s entire life, how then is he supposed to choose? How can anyone discern that one grail of truth from among life’s many falsehoods?

      Well, as the knight said in the Grail chamber, any man who desires to go forth and lay claim to the gift of life must first take on the responsibility of making wise choices.

      The Wisdom Equation

      Since wisdom is the dividing line between life and death, let’s take a moment to sharpen our understanding of wisdom as a biblical concept.

The Hebrew notion of wisdom denotes both intellectual aptitude and physical skill.2 According to Old Testament scholars Andrew Hill and John Walton, “wisdom is basically the very practical art of being prudent, sensible, and skillfully insightful so that one might prosper and have good success in life.” Hill and Walton point out that wisdom involves “the ability to discern and achieve order” in the world, in political and social relations, and within one’s own heart. “Wisdom taps the life experience of accumulated years and harnesses that knowledge and understanding for the purpose of safety, long life, right behavior, sound moral character, happiness, material prosperity, and integrity.” They conclude: “Ultimately, wisdom results in the ability to steer through life in a way that wins favor and a good name in the sight of both humanity and God.”3

      With this broader biblical context in mind, I will now give you my own refined definition of wisdom. In its most basic sense, wisdom is making knowledgeable, moral life choices and acting on those choices with an effective degree of rationality and skill.

      Think of this four-part definition as a mathematical equation:

      Knowledge + Morality + Rationality + Skill = Wisdom

      Each constant within this equation is valuable in its own right. But a wise man will utilize all four in conjunction to find the correct answers to his everyday problems. To better understand how wisdom works as a life solution, let’s take a closer look at the value of each constant.

      Knowledge. СКАЧАТЬ