Proverbs 3
H,
Wisdom is that other thing,
is it not? It is to fan free of the old excesses and dashed hopes of living in
our own state for so long that we forget that the universe and all its thralls
do not fall into our own personal curve. We are not the epicentre of the great
things that will now occur. This used to be known and understood by all who
followed wisdom. It used to be that humility was a virtue and following after
the great wind was an art. Now, to fill the empty spiritual logic of our
under-pastored state we fall for milky dreams of greatness. We need to be told
we matter and we are celebrated because the real corrupt world in which we live
does not have space for any ego but evil. The thing we give up in the process,
though, is credulity. Any drug may make you feel like you are ten feet tall
but, after all, you are not ten feet tall. There is no amount of self-help guru-ism
that can cover up the fatal flaw inherent in every human being.
Wisdom is that light that
speaks of a better day. It is not flashy, has no curls, and does not subscribe
to loud boom mikes or flashy tag lines. It is simple and quiet and underneath
it all. This is no accident because we have hidden ourselves under layers of
nonsense. It follows that  the real ‘us’ may
dwell underneath it all. The truth is hidden under the false themes and
soundbites of so called ‘greatness’ and so it lies underneath it all, speaking to
us only when we are ready to leave flash bulbs and false ideals behind. We can
hear it all in no other state.
It takes the epic fall and
fail to see what wisdom does. It is not a once and all epiphany but the gradual
breaking down of the human soul till it fires up with the hunger for the
filling only eternity brings. It is not by accident that Christianity is for
the outcast, broken, poor, widowed, orphaned and despised. In one sense this is
how we all are in many places of the soul. In another sense these are the
scavengers of grace that life has broken and so now they are ready to be fixed
by God. Do not look at those who are down in the proverbial dumps as failed
experiments in living. Wisdom tells us life will break us all. Ernest said it
so well and it did break him. The other part of the story is that this break
will lead us to the light that shines brighter and brighter even in the darkest
day of our souls.
Amen.