When Wisdom Meets Us on the Path - April 30

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 40, 54; PM Psalm 51; Wisdom 6:12-23; Col 3:1-11; Luke 7:1-17

Today’s Reflection

Wisdom is radiant and unfading,
and she is easily discerned by those who love her,
and is found by those who seek her.
She hastens to make herself known to those who desire her.
One who rises early to seek her will have no difficulty,
for she will be found sitting at the gate.
To fix one’s thought on her is perfect understanding,
and one who is vigilant on her account will soon be free from care,
because she goes about seeking those worthy of her,
and she graciously appears to them in their paths,
and meets them in every thought. —Wisdom 6: 12-16

October 22, 1939. The Second World War had just begun with the invasion of Poland by Germany that September. Across the English Channel, C.S. Lewis was asked to preach at St. Mary the Virgin Church in Oxford. In his sermon, which Lewis titled “No Other Gods: Culture in War Time,” he aimed to dismantle doubts that some Christians may have about whether pursuing the life of the mind—Wisdom in all its sacred beauty—is acceptable to God, especially in a time of cultural crisis.

In his sermon, Lewis addressed a specific audience in a specific situation: university students and faculty during war time. However, his ideas are instructive for any of us who are experiencing situations—whether personal, communal, or global—that have reached a crisis point. People facing troubled times tend to believe, in that moment, that things have never been worse than they are. What Lewis wanted his Oxford audience to gain in 1939, and what we can learn from this sermon in 2021, is a sense of perspective: “The war creates no absolutely new situation; it simply aggravates the permanent human situation so that we can no longer ignore it.” In our own context, we might well insert “the pandemic” in place of “the war” (acknowledging, of course, that multiple wars are ongoing around the world at any given moment).

Lewis’ perspective echoes the author of Ecclesiastes: “There is nothing new under the sun.” Wars, famines, plagues, storms, fires, social injustice, personal discord, and all manner of disease and destruction have always existed—though this does not make these crises any less heartbreaking and damaging each time we experience them. Certain parts of our own sacred Scriptures can read like a litany of crisis situations—and we find them portrayed in the arts, literature, and scholarly treatises dating back to ancient civilizations. As Lewis observed, “Human culture has always had to exist under the shadow of something infinitely more important than itself. If men had postponed the search for knowledge and beauty until they were secure, the search would have never begun.”

As the author of the Wisdom of Solomon reflects, Wisdom “hastens to make herself known to those who desire her. One who rises early to seek her will have no difficulty, for she will be found sitting at the gate. To fix one’s thought on her is perfect understanding.” Seeking after and finding wisdom in all things beautiful, complex, compelling, and sacred will not necessarily solve the problems we face (though it sometimes does). But when we seek after Wisdom, we gain a deeper sense of understanding when she “graciously appears in our paths” and “meets us in every thought.”

Even in the face of all manner of troubled times, we persist in writing songs and making music, creating drawings and paintings and sculptures, composing poems and plays and stories, writing theological and philosophical treatises, delivering speeches and preaching sermons, and engaging in intellectual discussions. Life in the crucible inspires intellectual, creative, and spiritual reflection. Though we look around and see so many things that are not as they should be, we should not feel guilty about continuing to seek out Wisdom as we ponder and create and converse.

Listening, learning, thinking, discussing, and creating in the face of—or even because of— our busy and chaotic world may not bring about immediate change. It may not make the most sense at the time, when we see that so much important work is left to do—whether that’s our to-do list at work, our chore list at home, or all the ways we want to take action to improve our world. But if we believe, with Lewis, that “Human life has always been lived on the edge of a precipice,” then we will see that life on the edge invites our reflection, including intellectual, creative, and spiritual responses to this life on the edge. Wisdom is calling out to us, if only we will listen for her voice.

—Becky+

Questions for Self-Reflection

In what ways do you search out and listen for wisdom and beauty in the rhythms of your daily life, in the places you inhabit, and in the conversations that you share?

Daily Challenge

Read what scholars have to say on why wisdom is personified as a woman the Hebrew scriptures, both in the book of Proverbs and in the book of Job.