Clever as Clever

I’ve always enjoyed A.A. Milne. Asa child I enjoyed his poems and the Winnie the Pooh books. Yesterday I was reminded of ‘Now We Are Six’. A six-year-old looks back on being younger and concludes:

But now I am Six,
I’m as clever as clever,
So I think I’ll be six now for ever and ever.

Three lessons about ‘clever-as-clever’ from last weekend:

Politicians: In local elections there were losses for Labour and Conservatives… gains for the Green Party and the Liberal Democrats… a huge swing towards the Reform Party. Commentators speculated on the future of British politics; politicians from all parties responded predictably.

Triumphant Nigel Farage and his supporters presented themselves as ‘clever as clever’. I mused on political uncertainty… Perhaps our political leaders – as well as business leaders, church leaders, all leaders, need to balance ‘clever as clever’ with humility.

Burundi: I read about life in Burundi, one of the world’s poorest countries. The UN Human Development Index, evaluating the standard of living in countries throughout the world ranks Burundi 187 out of 191. Of its 11.8m people 90% have no access to electricity… 70% live on less that £1.50 per day… 56% of under-5s are malnourished… life expectancy is 62 years.

I may gain ‘clever as clever’ knowledge about local or international need, but what do I do with the facts? Do I remain detached and self-centred, or does my knowledge translate into empathy and action?   

Merlin: Yesterday the ‘Merlin’ app was installed on my phone. It’s a bird recognition app. I go into our garden and switch it on – it recognises the bird songs. ‘Blackbird… robin… pigeon… greenfinch… thrush… goldfinch…’ are all singing in our garden. I’m impressed!

I think I’m clever as clever – but it’s only because of Merlin’s skills.

So when I think I’m ‘clever as clever’ I’m reminded: Politicians… stay humble, Burundi… knowledge alone is not enough, Merlin… I’m dependent on powers greater than me. Perhaps I think I’m grown up… but really it’s as if I’m only six.