Some Thoughts from a Recent Sermon
Here are some thoughts distilled from a recent sermon on Wisdom. The reading are from Proverbs 8 and John 1:1-3
Before the beginning of the cosmos, before physics or mathematics, certainly before geology or biology, and long before psychology, there was a reason, a purpose, a logic, a will, a desire, an intention. In the New Testament this purposeful energy is personified as the “Logos” of God. In the Old Testament, and especially in the book of Proverbs, purposeful energy is personified as the female principle, Sophia – Wisdom.
This logic, this wisdom, has to do with the right order of things. It is the principle by which everything from subatomic particles to humans in society is intended to operate. It is an intention of deep harmony, mutual care and interdependence.
It is the way of goodness and life. We may even say that the idea of “the good” is the presence of this order, this intention, in the realm of human thought. “The good” is not a derivative of ethics or morality, it is a self-evident principle that transcends and judges ethics and morality. Wisdom is the way that a good father orders his household, it is the way a good mother lovingly orders her children, not according to any rule, but according to the guidance of “the good.”
When we see the shades or hear the echoes of this harmonious order in our world, we perceive this as beauty. We say that something – a sunset – a piece of music – a loving family – is beautiful when it exhibits or displays something of this deep harmonious order.
To be guided in our actions by this deep order is to live in wisdom. In religious language, we might say that it is to live by the Word of God. By that, I most emphatically do not mean the Bible, but rather the living Word (Logos, Sophia) that, as Jesus says, “proceeds from the mouth of God.” Another way to say this is that the mother wisdom that nurtures and orders and cares for everything should be the guiding principle by which we live our lives
Wisdom is the fitting, timely, apposite, situationally appropriate, right, application of knowledge. It is a fallacy to think that there is a timeless and universally appropriate rule for right, good, or godly behavior. Discernment is always required. It is necessary for us to judge what is fitting and when. SQ
