The Wisdom of Solomon

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dream, Kings, Solomon, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, understanding, understanding heart, wise heart, youth

Often in interviews, famous (or infamous) people are asked a question like: “If you could change one thing in your life…” or “If you could have one thing…: or “What is the one most important thing…” hoping for an answer that is quite revelatory, or surprising or deeply meaningful. One would hope that in agreeing to such an interview the person would have thought about such ultimate questions so as not to be taken off guard and answer frivolously. More helpful would be to live a deeply thoughtful life so that any serious question could be answered from deep within. It is clear that King David’s son and successor, Solomon, was that reflective kind of person, a good model for all of us.

In today’s first reading which chronicles the first days of Solomon’s reign, God appears to Solomon in a dream and says, “Ask something of me and I will give it to you.” The young king’s answer is so profound that I think it should be a lesson for every child, repeated several times during youth and then at crucial points in life – like marriage or other serious commitments, upon embarking on a career, at the time of retirement from work and in old age as a retrospective assessment of life. Listen to the conversation and see if you can honestly answer in like manner. (A caution: It takes a long time for most of us to get to such an interior state, so don’t worry if you aren’t there; just determine to keep on moving toward it!).

Solomon answered: “You have shown great favor to your servant, my father David…and you have continued this great favor toward him, even today, seating a son of his on his throne…but I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act. I serve you in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a people so vast that it cannot be numbered or counted. Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and distinguish right from wrong…” So 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…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, and after you there will come no one to equal you…” (1 KGS 3: 4-13)

 

 

 

 

 

For Young and Old Alike

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awe, beauty, fear of the Lord, majesty, psalm 111, religious education, seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Timothy, wisdom, wonder, youth

When I was teaching high school and, later, working in religious education with teenagers, I always referred them to the first letter of Timothy, a young disciple of Paul, specifically to the line that said, “Never let people look down on you because you are young, but see that they look up to you because of your love and faith and purity.” This morning I find that line (1TIM 4:12) – although translated a bit differently as “Let no one have contempt for your youth…” – as a call to all of us who are older to give more than a passing glance to young people whose journey to adulthood has likely been much more complicated than mine and to seek the good that may sometimes be hidden in them.

Another of my memories from those days of parish religious education was the shift in translation of the “seven gifts of the Holy Spirit” taught as they prepared for the sacrament of Confirmation. Most welcome was the change from “fear of the Lord” to “wonder and awe in God’s presence.” That made so much sense to me. I believe that the sense of that gift was always “God is so big and I am so small” but rather than conveying a duty to cower in the face of that huge presence, we are called to bow in wonder to the majesty and beauty of God. Perhaps that awe is most easily seen in small children for whom almost everything is a cause for wonder.

Lest you think I am lost in a reverie of by-gone teaching days, I was drawn to think of all this in connection as I read Psalm 111 today, which says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” This reminds me that I need to nurture that sense of wonder and awe in young people, listen to them for growing insights about the workings of God in the world and find wisdom where it is birthed in them. We generally hear that wisdom is a virtue not characteristic of the young. While it is true that experience is the best teacher of wisdom, I would advocate for attention to what they can teach us older folks of newness and fresh perspective, and pray for them as they will be the ones to change the world.