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calling, distinguish, God, judge, King David, King Solomon, plea, servant, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, understanding heart, wisdom
Early in his tenure as king, Solomon had a dream where God said to him, “Ask something of me and I will give it to you.” (1KGS 3:4) Solomon’s response is striking because it sounded as if he could have had anything in the world. He began by praising his father, David who had been a great ruler and the beloved servant of God. Then he talked about his own inexperience because he was young, and his lack of knowledge about how to act as king over such a vast populace. How amazing his wisdom at such an age! How astounding the sentence that followed. “Give your servant, therefore,” he said, “an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.” In return for the selflessness of Solomon’s request God gave him not only what he asked for but also many things he did not seek: the riches and glory that might have been the request of a lesser man.
Solomon is a good example, not only for young people learning to navigate in the world, but for all of us who still wonder occasionally what it is God is calling us to do. I hope I am never too old or too “settled” to direct a plea to God for wisdom in great moments as well as in the everyday situations of life. An understanding heart is always at the top of my list of perfect gifts and I pray that it is as renewable as it is necessary.
This morning as I read Psalm 86 I thought of how blessed I am with good friends to whom I can go for comfort in troubled times. There are moments, however, when it is only God who will suffice as a sounding board – or when it feels as if that is true. When I have acted in a less than worthy manner or judged someone unjustly, I am likely to first seek God’s forgiveness until I work up the courage and humility to admit my fault to a human being. Excuses abound for bad behavior and it is only when the layers of babble are stripped away – usually in conversation with God – that I dare to admit my need for forgiveness. How blessed are we, therefore, to have a God whose name is Love! I am grateful to the psalmist today – and to the translator – for these comforting words that give me pause.
One of the “tricky” faculties of the human mind is our ability to judge. We need to be “razor-sharp” in using the quality of discrimination – knowing first the two sides of that “coin” – while refraining from making judgments based on insufficient information, hearsay or our own narrow perspective. To clarify what might sound rather complicated in that sentence, I have two examples.
Not having any inspiration this morning – nor even cogent thoughts for that matter, I have been searching the words of Macrina Wiederkehr for an expression that would mirror how I’m feeling. Since I am unable to recognize myself in anything I read, I choose simply to offer her prayer that begins: There are mornings when I simply sit in silence trying to remember some of the things that rise in me. Her list is challenging but maybe if I focus on even one of the elements, it will jump-start my motivation for the day. May this day be a blessing for each of us and all of us together as we rise to the call of the Spirit.
I think that Psalm 117 is the shortest psalm in the whole book, or at least tied for that honor. It’s a praise psalm – as many are – and our lectionary translation has it in its totality as follows: Praise the Lord all you nations; glorify him, all you peoples. For steadfast is God’s kindness toward us, and the fidelity of the Lord endures forever. A lovely, hopeful sentiment.
The gospel for today is the story of the woman caught in adultery. Leaving aside the justice question about the man involved in the incident – while not unaware of the impact it has even today – I am given to comment on the way Jesus puts his attention on the woman. After having said the famous line: Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her,” and doing that mysterious writing in the sand, Jesus turns to the woman. He engages her in the most compassionate way by asking, “Woman, where are they?” My guess is that he said that so she would raise her head in order to see that they had all skulked away. She had certainly been bowed to the ground in fear and humiliation. I can see her looking around in amazement as he asks the second question: “Has no one condemned you?” and then – best of all – says, “Neither will I.”
I smiled as I read the Psalm for today – one of the praise psalms toward the end of the book, Psalm 147, wherein we find a weather report of sorts. In verse 16, the psalmist sings of God’s activity thus: He spreads snow like wool; frost he strews like ashes. Yesterday I was thinking we were surely headed for spring but this morning there’s lots of activity out there, wind and blowing snow – as if last week’s dump of almost 3 feet of the white stuff were not enough!
The “common cold” has been getting a lot of attention recently. We’ve been warned about the danger of being heedless as it could lead to pneumonia – and that to death, especially for the elderly. Whether it be an excess of caution or a very serious infection, Queen Elizabeth of England has joined the ranks of those of us afflicted in this season, to the extent that she missed participating in her traditional Christmas church service for the first time in 30 years!
