Page 6 - royal-times-13-14

A Useful Motto

The school I attended in Dublin had, as its motto, some
words that Jesus spoke to his disciples, ‘Be as wise as
serpents and as innocent as doves’. Needless to say
we turned it about so that it read, ‘Be as innocent as
serpents and as wise as doves’. But it is helpful advice
for students, and especially those going out into the
world.

Wisdom is not to be confused with acquiring knowledge
or being intelligent, but is something much more
practical, very down-to-earth. It means ‘understanding’
or, as we might say, ‘cop-on’, being able to use the gifts
and skills we have to make the best of our lives, realising
instinctively what is the right thing to do, being able to
discriminate between the good and the bad, between
what is important and what is trivial, knowing, for example, when to turn off the television or
computer. It reminds us of the need to gain from the experience of those who are older and
wiser, not something that comes easily to us. It was the author Mark Twain who once said,
‘When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant, I could hardly stand to have the old man
around; but when I got to be 21, I was amazed at how much he had learnt in 7 years’. And it
has to do with discipline, leading a self-controlled life, being able to control our temper and
our tongue. The bible provides us with a starting point when it tells us, ‘Fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom’.

And innocence isn’t to be confused with naivety either. Its about keeping ourselves pure in our
thoughts, words and deeds, recognising and resisting temptations, being wary of false flattery
and compromise. Its learning to be in the world but not of the world, being involved but not
implicated.

‘Wise as serpents, innocent as doves’- not a bad combination to direct our lives. Which reminds
me, we also had a school rulebook to guide our conduct, and the very last entry was the one
they could always nail you on. It simply read, ‘A breach of common sense is a breach of the
school rules’. Now there’s a thought!

Canon Mark Lidwill

School Chaplin

6 The Royal Times 2013-2014