A Heart For Wisdom

"The Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. God said, "Ask something of me and I will give it to you." Solomon answered, "O LORD, my God, you have made me your servant, king to succeed my father David; but I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act. . . Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong. For who is able to govern this vast people of yours?"
The LORD was pleased thst Solomon made this request. God said to him: "Because you have asked for this --  not for a long life for yourself, nor for riches, nor for the life of your enemies,  but for understanding so that you may know what is right -- I do as you requested. I give you a heart so wise and understanding that there has never been anyone like you up to now." -- [1Kings 3:5, 7-12].


Wisdom is in short supply, today.

What passes for governance by Wisdom is actually no more than an attitude of "I am RIGHT, and you are wrong. SO I win and you lose." With this self-centered version of Wisdom, we ALL lose.

No, I am not taking sides, here. I see this narcissistic version of Wisdom on both sides of the political aisle. The only winners are those who take down the opposition. Meanwhile, we are a nation with no defensible borders, no viable healthcare, a military with planes that don't fly and service members who refuse to die for each other because they judge who the other soldiers claim to be.

In my family, my parents spent an inordinate amount of time defending why the World was wrong but they were RIGHT. ---But, why were THEY- so very faulty and human- the Arbiters of All?

In this Scripture, we see that Wisdom comes from God, not from Man. The great ruler and king, Solomon, is humble enough to realize that he often does not know how to act. He himself does not define the universe of Wisdom, by decree or by human law.

We also see that Wisdom is the ability "to distinguish right from wrong." What is Right is NOT what is expedient at the moment. Nor is it "all relative". There is a principle of Wisdom that is enduring and even Divine.

Wisdom also comes from "an understanding heart." The Heart of Wisdom is compassion, empathy, even Love. And God IS Love.

If it does not come from God, and it is not Love, how can it be Wisdom?

My parents spent a vast amount of time and effort gathering, hoarding and counting up riches. They thought they were smarter, quicker, stronger than anyone else. Their philosophy was, 'To the victor go the spoils. All others are on their own.' At its extreme, this philosophy means 1) that if you have few resources, you are to be derided in your weakness; 2) that there is no reason to share any resources, because the poor "did it to themselves. If they wanted to be richer, they would accomplish that."; and 3) that we have responsibility only for ourselves, not for each other.

My parents spent a lot of time feeling superior to others because of their access to medical care and nutritious food. They felt sure that because of what THEY did, they would have a long, healthy life. They did not realize that they occupied this life only at God's will. Until, one early spring morning, my father woke up, drank his coffee and fell over, dead. He thought he had all the answers. But, if you look at a life like Solomon's, what my dad needed was not all the Answers, but the humility to pose all the Questions.

In the end, Wisdom is an understanding Heart. This is what is missing today. There IS no coming together our World, there is only a splitting apart. Sin is disunity, it is idolization of Self over God, over Community and Love.

In my family, there was no Love. No Love was ever expressed. No Love was ever shown. Once you suffer that deficit of childhood Love, it is almost impossible to gain it back. That Love, stored deep within the Heart, is the Treasure which you seek endlessly, but can never grasp.

Solomon was so very right to pray for Wisdom. For Wisdom is "an understanding Heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong." And THAT is a precious Blessing, indeed.

[Related Posting: "Prayer for Wisdom", 7/23/11; "Precious Wisdom, 10/15/12; "Mysterious Wisdom", 2/12/17 ].

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