High Wires and The Way of Wisdom

If anyone knows the importance of getting the next step right, it’s Philippe Petit.

A world famous tight-rope walker, Philippe has crossed the gaps between some of the most famous landmarks in the world; from the Twin Towers to Notre-Dame Cathedral. Not all his walks are legal, but they do capture the imaginations of millions. Not only in the death-defying bravery of the walks, but also by his quest for necessary perfection. Necessary because each small move forward needs to be flawless; needs to be felt, weighed up, and taken with the utmost focus and consideration.

His walks are the most practiced and thought-through walks of all time.

They have to be.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I certainly have no ambitions to follow in the precarious steps of Philippe Petit. Being deathly afraid of heights - so much so even climbing the Eiffel Tower left me shaking and sweating - keeps me firmly rooted to solid earth.

But remaining on the ground doesn’t mean each step forward can be taken carelessly and thoughtlessly. But finding those right steps is a lot more nebulous because, unlike Philippe on his suspended wire, we have an infinite number of choices ahead of us. We don’t have the luxury of being presented with a single line to follow, and committing all our energies to that line.

We need to choose a way. The right way.

That requires wisdom.

Enter New York mega-Pastor Timothy Keller, and his latest devotional book The Way of Wisdom.

A book of 365 daily readings, The Way of Wisdom journeys through the book of Proverbs. It opens up what the goal, the destination, of a Christian life is. Every day has a lesson for your life; a daily nudge towards learning how to walk in faith with surety and wisdom.

And yes, taking the time out to read every day takes discipline and practice. But making a daily commitment towards an ideal is how great things are achieved. It’s how Philippe is able to walk on a steel cable thousands of feet in the air, and it is how you live a full life of understanding and wisdom.

In an interview a couple of years ago Philippe said of his daily practicing that “There is not one day that I don’t discover something new”. I can’t think of a better way to approach life, or to begin a year discovering the The Way of Wisdom.