How do you define wisdom?
Etymologically, the word wise comes
from the Old Saxon word for seeing,
while -dom connotes being in a state of. So wisdom is then being in a state of seeing.
In terms of our texts this weekend, the implied idea is one of seeing as
one ought, that is, as God sees – which sounds kind of impossible, right? Yet, in our reading from the Book of Wisdom,
Solomon asks for this quality, wisdom,
knowing it is a treasure to see as God sees.
In the Old Testament, intimacy with Wisdom is essentially intimacy with
God, God sharing God's understanding with humankind. How do we access it? As with Solomon, we begin with prayer, and with
the proper disposition, being open to receiving God’s wisdom. We are human, and therefore limited; there is
much we can’t do. With God, though, anything
is possible, so asking for wisdom is perhaps not all that farfetched. And having wisdom, then, means living a life
in which you can see creation through God’s eyes, and act accordingly.
This Sunday’s psalm is one prayer we might use when we pray
for wisdom. In it, the psalmist recognizes
our inescapable humanity, our own limitations – we are dust, changeable as the
changing grass – yet we must seek to number
[our] days aright, to grow in wisdom of heart so that we might live life to
the fullest in relationship with God.
In the New Testament, it is through our union with Christ in
baptism and in Eucharist that we are introduced to and participate in divine
wisdom, and are thus introduced into intimacy with God. So what’s new here? Wisdom, Jesus tells the crowds traveling with
him in Luke's gospel, begins with total commitment to God:
If anyone comes to me without
hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, even his
own life, he cannot be my disciple. Seems pretty harsh, at first read. But if total commitment leads to wisdom that
opens and deepens and enriches everything that we are about, then that wisdom
will enhance all of our relationships, so long as we first see with God’s eyes, and live
justly, not concerned with possessions or any obstacle, material or human, that gets in the way of our
relationship with God.
And there is no lack of examples to follow. In his letter to Philemon, Paul calls upon
the new follower of Jesus to act from within a knowledge of specifically
Christian wisdom, to see his former slave Onesimus as God sees him, and to welcome him, to receive him into
community as a beloved brother. It is wisdom – seeing as God sees – in
action.
Pray for wisdom today, and every day, and see if your own
vision changes as a result!
This post is based on Fr. Pat's Scripture class.
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