My child, keep my words
and store up my commandments with you;
keep my commandments and live;
keep my teachings as the apple of your eye;
bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
and call insight your intimate friend. (New Revised Standard Version)
Out of all the words I hear come out of people’s mouths in a day, I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say something like “Wisdom is my sister.” Indeed, I would argue that wisdom is in short supply these days.
The thing about wisdom is that many people – if they consider wisdom at all – tend to overemphasize one aspect of it over another. For wisdom to truly be wisdom, there must be both a solid body of knowledge and a practical understanding of how to implement learned information into one’s lived daily experience.
The concept of wisdom is truncated whenever one only focuses on book learning and information; or if one solely homes in on individual practice without any instruction.
A truly wise person has a teachable spirit about them, while at the same time, is willing to take the time necessary for action, and reflection on those actions, doing them again and again with learned and helpful information.
If someone tells you something, without any solid evidence to back up their statements, then you are likely hearing a bunch of foolishness, and not wisdom. What’s more, if they are all words and no action, there’s probably nothing worth listening to.
Without a robust evidence-based understanding of a subject, we become vulnerable to every Tom, Dick, and Harry who comes along and makes claims we’d like to hear. Even if it’s a blatant lie, apart from wisdom, we may suck up the bogus information like the bottom of a chocolate shake.
The presence of wisdom is an invitation for all simpletons to come, learn, and get rid of the simplistic ignorance of small personal opinions. Wisdom gives us a rudder to steer the ship of our life; and a map to provide us with direction.
If we eat at wisdom’s table, we shall fill ourselves with abundant life and satisfaction. Then, we will be able to overlook the baloney sandwich of stupidity for the T-bone steak of knowledge.
Wisdom is very much needed in times of temptation. Therefore, the more we are attentive to attaining a sage life, the more we will be able to withstand temptation’s onslaught when it comes to us.
The Teacher of Proverbs makes it clear that none of this is optional nor some sort of suggested teaching. Our Old Testament lesson for today is adamant that we pay attention to these admonitions. The verb “keep” is an inescapable exhortation.
Keeping the Teacher’s commands near to us, as if they were a close relative, is imperative to successful daily living.
Becoming proficient in the ways of the soul is important because the soul thrives on wisdom. Wisdom is soul food. This means we will attend to the small things which keeps our soul engaged and fed.
Carrying out our ordinary activities with mindfulness and a desire to learn is an artful practice which puts us in a position to soak up the wisdom around us.
The emptiness that so many people complain of comes, in part, from ignoring the small things. It puts wisdom way off of our radar. In other words, things like loneliness, boredom, and dissatisfaction come from ignoring one’s soul. The consequence is that wisdom is kept at a distance, and foolishness is allowed to come in and have run of the house.
What’s more, a life out of balance between introverted reading and extroverted activity puts us off kilter, not knowing what direction we ought to go. In this state, we’ll likely never find God’s will in any given situation.
We know we are growing in wisdom whenever loving another becomes more fulfilling than understanding that person.
If we seek wisdom so that we can be free of complexity, confusion, and all mystery, then we’ll never attain it. Instead, we’ll be the wise guy in the room and not the wise sage. Love will be off our radar, and so, wisdom shall be out of reach.
Developing wisdom is no easy endeavor; it’s hard, and requires steadfast commitment. The difficulty of it typically lies in implementing wise choices. That’s because we will inevitably come to a point where discernment tells us that we must let go of something.
And that something we need to let go is our own petty world that we have created. Only when we have made room can we accept a new world order which revolves around wisdom and doing what we can for the common good of all creation.
O God of love, you are the true sun of the world, evermore risen and never going down: We pray you to shine in our hearts and drive away the darkness of sin and the mist of error. We pray that we may, this day and all our lives long, walk without stumbling in the way you have prepared for us, which is Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God in glory everlasting. Amen.
Rev. Tim Ehrhardt 