We should always learn from
the masters . . .
In ancient Greece (469
- 399 BC),
Socrates was widely lauded
for his
wisdom.
One day the great philosopher
came upon an acquaintance who
ran up to him
excitedly and said,
"Socrates, do you know what
I just heard about one
of your
students?"
"Wait a moment," Socrates
replied. "Before you tell me I'd like you
to
pass a little test. It's called
the Test of
Three Cups."
"Three
Cups?"
"That's right," Socrates
continued.
"Before you talk to me about my
student let's take a moment to
pour out the
dregs of what you're
going to say into the three
cups,
and see what is left.
The first cup is
Truth. Have
you made absolutely sure that
what
you are about to
tell me is true?"
"No,"
the man said,
"actually I just heard about it
and....."
"All right," said Socrates. "So
you
don't really know if it's true or
not.
Now let's try the second
cup,
the cup of Goodness.
Is what you are
about
to tell me about my student
something
good?"
"No, on the
contrary...."
"So," Socrates continued,
"you want to tell me something
bad about him,
even though
you're not certain it's
true?"
The man shrugged, a little
embarrassed. Socrates continued.
"You may still
pass the test though, because there is a third
cup --
the cup of Usefulness.
Is what you want
to tell me
about my student going to
be useful
to me?"
"No, not really
......."
"Well," concluded Socrates,
"if
what you want to tell me
is neither known to be
true,
nor good, nor even useful,
why tell it to
me at all?"
The man was defeated and
ashamed.
This is one of the reason Socrates
was
a great philosopher and
held in such high
esteem.
Our Lord also gave us the
following truths, so we may
be wise and able to walk
in all His truths
Ecclesiastes 10:3Yea also, when he
that is a
fool walketh by the way,
his wisdom faileth him,
and he
sayeth to every one that he is a fool.
