Wisdom

Lately, I have been listening and thinking about our times here in America. For many, it seems we are witnessing the disintegration of our culture, the breakdown of civility and the rule of law, and even the loss of safety and comfort in our own home. What is happening?

William Butler Yeats wrote his famous poem, The Second Coming, shortly after the tragedy of World War I, and his words tend to spring back into our minds during times like these we are now experiencing. From the carnage in Ukraine to the shootings in Milwaukee and Buffalo to leaders in our government threatening the Supreme Court (to name just a handful), it would seem that mere anarchy is loosed upon the world and everywhere the ceremony of innocence is drowned. The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity. Yeats envisioned human existence as a series of overlapping circles of calm and torment, peace and war, in an ever widening gyre further and further from the center until the center cannot hold and chaos prevails.

A half century later an another poet put these lines to song amid the near chaos of America in the late 1960’s: All lies and jest, a man hears what he wants to hear and ignores the rest.¹ Essentially, there is no truth. Everyone makes up their own truth, from our elected leaders to the gangs on the street. Since that fateful era, wisdom has gone out of favor….so much so that today wisdom is considered a repugnant, dangerous relic of the past, the discredited darling of male supremacy.

Yet if there is truth, then wisdom seeks it. In ancient Greece, Athena was the goddess of reason and wisdom. In ancient Israel, King Solomon is credited with having written Proverbs, and he refers to Wisdom with a feminine pronoun (Prov.1:20). Both truth and wisdom transcend gender, for truth is applicable to all of creation, and the wise are those who discern it. For Solomon, wisdom begins with fear of the Lord and understanding of God (Prov. 2:3-6). For those of us who might conclude that modern humanity can now discern truth for itself and is capable of managing the earth, we might consider the words of an ancient poet who knew better (Job 38: 1-7, and 38:8-40: 14).

Christians know a certain truth that God sent Christ into this godless world as our refuge from fear, sadness and uncertainty. Christ did not teach us how to manage the affairs of others or to rule others. Christ taught service, kindness, and love for one another. His last teachings to his disciples focused on these salient truths (Jn. 13:12-15; 33-35). Paul, Christ’s missionary to the gentiles, taught the Romans to refrain from conformance to this world, but rather to be transformed so that they could discern the will of God (Ro. 12: 2).

However, we are not sequestered monks. We do live and work in this world. Perhaps then, wisdom is the acceptance of the godless world as we find it, serving and caring for others as we are able, and leaving to God the march of humankind. A famous prayer reads, May God grant me serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference. ²

For sheer simplistic eloquence, though, I like best how four famous men of song responded to all this from their own introspection a half century ago. When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me… And in my hour of darkness, She is standing right in front of me, Speaking words of wisdom, Let it be. ³ This great biblical truth remains. God is with us, always and forever. Thanks be to God.

1. The Boxer, Paul Simon with Art Garfunkel, 1969
2. Known as the Serenity Prayer, popularized by Alcoholics Anonymous, is attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971), who wrote the prayer in the early 1930’s. His original version is thought to have been, “Father, give us courage to change what must be altered, serenity to accept what cannot be helped, and the insight to know the one from the other.” See Serenity Prayer, Wikipedia.org.
3. Let It Be, The Beatles, lyrics by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, 1970