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Hillside Street, Bennington, Vermont (802) 442-2559
"resolutely inclusive, spiritually alive, and empowered for ministry in the world." |
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“Wise Living”--August 16, 2009 Proverbs 9:1-6, Ephesians 5:15-20
Posted: August 18th, 2009 @ 10:36am
How’s your “Spiritual Intelligence Quotient?” You may know your “IQ,” or intelligence quotient, as measured on the Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale, or maybe even your “EQ,” or Emotional Intelligence Quotient–your ability to understand yourself and your feelings, your ability to empathize with others and the ability to communicate and listen? But how’s your “Spiritual Intelligence Quotient?” Here are a few questions to gauge that--
--Do you know who you really are? Do you know–really know–that you are a beloved child of God?
--Do you see others as being beloved children of God as well, connected to you, related to you, and worthy of being treated as sisters and brothers?
--Are you living a life of stewardship, taking care of the resources entrusted to you, your body, mind, and spirit, your gifts and talents, your money, your time, your energy?
--Is there a balance between contemplation or prayer and action in your life? Do you take at least 20 minutes a day to tend to yourself and your spiritual nature?
--Do you live in awareness of the “paschal” nature of life, that it, that it is about life, death and resurrection? All about passages and transitions, all about endings and beginnings?
--Are you living the way of forgiveness, or do you carry along and nurse resentments, hurts, wrongs?
And finally, do you find your groundedness in God? Do you keep coming back to the Source of your life, being reminded in worship, in prayer, in listening, in Scripture and other sacred reading?
How’s your SIQ?
“Be careful how you live,” the writer of the letter to the Ephesians says, “not as unwise people but as wise...” “Wisdom has built her house,” Proverbs says, “She has hewn her seven pillars.” Those questions I just asked you–about how you live and who you are–are what one Roman Catholic priest suggests might be the 7 pillars of Wisdom’s house, the architecture within which to build your life. (Fr. Patrick Brennan, textweek.com)
Wisdom is personified in Hebrew scripture as a woman. Hokmah is the word in Hebrew, sophia is the word in Greek. Hagia sophia–also the name of an immense Eastern Orthodox church in Constantinople– is “Holy Wisdom.” She is portrayed as God’s companion at creation, standing and playing alongside of “Him”–God’s delight and inspiration, the feminine manifestation of the divine in perfect balance with the masculine. But she is no mere child, helpless and powerless, as we see in this passage from Proverbs–
Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn her seven pillars.
She has slaughtered her animals, she has mixed her wine, she has also set her table.
She has sent out her servant girls, she calls from the highest places in the town,
‘You that are simple, turn in here!’ To those without sense she says, “come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight.”
Wisdom in biblical thought is much more than mind intelligence or knowledge. When the young King Solomon prays for an “understanding mind,” the literal translation is a “hearing or obedient heart.” (Seasons of the Spirit, Congregational Life, Pent.) Wisdom is less about the mind and more about the will. How do you choose to live your life? Not, how much information or knowledge do you have?
Hagia Sophia or Holy Wisdom permeates all of creation and calls us to notice, to pay attention. Thomas Merton, the 20th monk and writer, described this Divine Presence like this:
There is in all things an inexhaustible sweetness and purity, a silence that is a fount of action and joy. It rises up in wordless gentleness and flows out to me from the unseen roots of all created being, welcoming me tenderly, saluting me with indescribable humility. This is at once my own being, my own nature, and the Gift of my Creator’s Thought and Art within me, speaking as Hagia Sophia, speaking as my sister, Wisdom. (In Merton, A Book of Hours, p. 188-9)
Some Christian traditions see Jesus as the incarnation of Sophia, Wisdom.
“Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise,” the writer of Ephesians tells us, and then further, “making the most of the time, because the days are evil.” You may or not want to describe our times that way–as evil–but for all our intelligence, for all our technology and information and expertise, perhaps what we need most of all is wisdom, wisdom that cannot be learned by reading a manual or taking a course or going to a website, but by going deeper than that, by going deep within. The first century BCE philosopher Seneca said that “no [one] was ever wise by chance.” While we are born with a certain wisdom–it’s built into our bodies–unless it’s nurtured and sought after, we don’t become wise “by chance.” It does take effort, It takes attention, reflection, and much of 21st century life in the West is not built around such activities or efforts. Sustained attention and reflection? Walking or running not to raise your heart rate or lower your time but to let your brain air out and let your thoughts drift in and out? Sitting still, and in silence? Listening deeply and receptively, not to the television or radio or computer or even another person, but to the Universe? Who has time for that?!
William Glasser, the founder of “reality therapy,” stated, not from a particularly religious perspective, that if you don’t take 20 minutes a day for your self and do something of a spiritual nature, you are highly susceptible to stress and burn out. 20 min. a day, let alone an hour and 15 min. a week. Would you know what to do with those 20 minutes? Would your children? There are actually are practices and disciplines that wise men and women over the centuries have used to help them pay attention. “Consciousness is just the tip of the experiential ice berg,” 20th c. philospher Alfred North Whitehead wrote. What about your dreams or other non-rational experiences? Do you listen or pay attention to them?
“Be careful how you live, not as unwise people but as wise.” How wise are we? A study of 143 nations, conducted by the New Economics Foundation, looked into how “happy” the people of those various nations were, based on indicators like life-expectancy, over-all well-being, social creativity, and ecological impact. Costa Rica turned out to be #1–the overall “happiest” nation, while the U.S. came in at #114 (out of 143). A similar study put us at #123. We may be smart and technologically advanced, but are we wise?
Bruce Epperly, a Disciples of Christ pastor and professor at Lancaster Theological Seminary writes that in our scripture readings for the day, which include King Solomon’s prayer for wisdom in a dream and Psalm 111, which praises God’s glory in nature, these wisdom-giving spiritual practices are suggested –
–Wisdom emerges, he says, from discerning what is important in life.
–Wisdom is experienced by listening to God’s presence in dreams and other non-rational experiences.
–Wisdom is found in awe and wonder at the universe, in nature, in the divine presence in all things.
–Wisdom is nurtured through mindfulness and alertness.
–We make the most of the time by living with intentionality, awareness, and openness.
–Wisdom is reinforced with spiritual affirmations, like particular passages of scripture – “Nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God,” or “Love is patient and kind...”–or in songs and hymns.
–and finally, Wisdom is nurtured by having a sense of deep and radical gratitude and in awareness and living out of the interconnectedness of all things. (Process and Faith Website, 8/16/09) –lots of ways to tap in, become aware of, hear Wisdom’s call.
Maybe it would be helpful to review those 7 questions or pillars of a house of Wisdom that I asked you at the beginning. What is your Spiritual Intelligence Quotient?
--Do you know who you really are? Do you know–really know–that you are a beloved child of God?
--Do you see others as being beloved children of God as well, connected to you, related to you, and worthy of being treated as sisters and brothers?
--Are you living a life of stewardship, taking care of the resources entrusted to you, your body, mind, and spirit, your gifts and talents, your money, your time, your energy?
--Is there a balance between contemplation or prayer and action in your life? Do you take at least 20 minutes a day to tend to yourself and your spiritual nature?
--Do you live in awareness of the “paschal” nature of life, that it, that it is about life, death and resurrection? All about passages and transitions, all about endings and beginnings?
--Are you living the way of forgiveness, or do you carry along and nurse resentments, hurts, wrongs?
And finally, do you find your groundedness in God? Do you keep coming back to the Source of your life, being reminded in worship, in prayer, in listening, in Scripture and other sacred reading?
“Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Another to put that might be, Live in Wisdom’s house. “Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight.” So may we walk together.
Amen, and amen.
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