What do you value
most?
Tradition holds
that the Book of Wisdom is written in the voice of King Solomon, who asks God
to give him prudence and a spirit of wisdom, compared to which,
Solomon knows, riches are nothing.
Although Solomon will later get lost in his own possessions and an
accumulation of wives, early in his reign the king understands that wisdom,
although intangible, is constant and eternal, whereas tangible material
possessions are occasional and fleeting.
Psalm 90 is attributed to Moses, who also asks for wisdom of heart, that he might know how to number his days aright, living
for God rather than for temporary treasure. Solomon and Moses both value the eternal over
the ephemeral, and express their gratitude for their blessings, shouting for joy and gladness at God’s
gifts.
In Mark’s Gospel,
the man who asks Jesus, Good teacher,
what must I do to inherit eternal life? is not banking on the response
Jesus has for him. While the man may
have observed all the commandments from his youth, he is not prepared to go and sell what he has to give it
to the poor so that he might follow
Jesus. The unnamed man forgoes treasure in heaven because he is
possessed by his own ephemeral wealth; he
may not know eternal life in the age to
come. In that spirit, the author of
the Letter to Hebrews reminds us that ultimately, it is to God that we must render an account, for no creature is concealed from him. The word
of God is able to penetrate even
between soul and spirit, getting to the core of who we are and what we
value; it is living and effective,
able, like wisdom, to correct, restore and renew us, bringing us ever closer to
God… so long as we value the eternal over the ephemeral.
We bank on that
which is temporary, but we must never forget, as 1 Timothy reminds us, that we
come into this world with nothing, and leave it the same way. Although they are not evil in themselves, our
possessions can come to consume us, especially when we fail to acknowledge
their transitory nature compared to the eternal
life Jesus has to offer. Ultimately,
each of us has to choose to follow,
even – and especially – when that means detaching ourselves from material
possessions in order to enjoy the blessings of eternal life, numbering our days aright in the eyes of God.
This post is based
on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordle.net
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