O God, creator of our land, . . . You have also pulled other continents out of the sea. What a wonderful world you have made out of wet mud, and what beautiful men and women! . . . The grace of your creation is like a cool day between rainy seasons. . . . Bless us. Bless our land and people. Bless our forests . . . Bless our fields . . . Bless the waters . . . Be with us in our countries and in all Africa, and in the whole world. Prepare us for the service that we should render.
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Knowledge gives us information. Wisdom gives us light on the way. Knowledge is skill. Wisdom is a quality. Knowledge can be learned. Wisdom can only be distilled from those places in life where knowledge is not enough to really explain what was happening to us, or information failed to resolve what was happening to the other.
~ by Joan Chittester in the Foreword to WISDOM OF THE BENEDICTINE ELDERS