‘But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place understanding? Job 28: 12

Job was a prosperous and blameless man who suddenly fell on hard times. Three friends try to comfort him, but in vain. Job struggles to maintain his belief in God, and reflects on the source of true wisdom. Where is wisdom to be found?

Wisdom is an unfashionable word today. Successful people are called clever, astute, dynamic, but rarely is the word wise used. And yet wise advice is what we all need at various points in our lives. Wisdom isn’t intellectual ability or achievement. It is the ability to cope with the things life throws at us and to be able to see the bigger picture. We probably all know someone who is wise in that sense, able to see that little bit further, to reckon with consequences that may be just over the horizon, and to be a good judge of people.

When I think of wisdom I remember my father, who had seen life in the Welsh coal-mining valleys, who had coped with adversity, who had read widely and lived through the rigours of wartime London. He was, too, a man of quiet but deep faith, who loved the English church, the seasons of the churches year, and the cadences of the Book of Common Prayer.

Wisdom in the Bible is about reaching for intellectual, aesthetic and religious unity as a means of making sense of the mystery of human existence. It is the recognition that man is made for better things than just getting and spending. We have a divine quality implanted within us, and we are restless beings until we find that place of spiritual rest.

‘Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding.’ Job 28: 28

The Venerable David Meara

Archdeacon of London

The Old Testament prophets were not soothsayers or fortune tellers; they did not foretell events in the sense of giving advance information. As Amos said, God told them what he intended to do to nations, classes, or individuals who disobeyed his law and failed to live the way he required men and women to live, and the prophets then proclaimed God’s message. The conditions of human life have of course changed enormously since the days of the prophets, but God’s requirements have not altered, and Micah’s words are still relevant for individuals and for governments in the twenty-first century. We may sometimes feel that God does not react to instances of human wickedness as speedily as we might expect or wish. Nevertheless, to quote Longfellow, ‘Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small; Though with patience he stands waiting, with exactness grinds he all.’ There are also occasions when we may genuinely feel uncertain as to what God is wanting us to do in some particular matter; moreover there will probably be other times when we shall feel that we know what he wants us to do, but are pretty certain that we shall find it unpleasant. At such times, but not only then, we can use the Prayer Book Collect for the First Sunday after Epiphany:
O Lord, we beseech thee mercifully to receive the prayers of thy people which call upon thee; and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfil the same; through  Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Why do we try to keep Lent ? Because it’s a custom ? Because we feel better by givng up sweets, alcohol, or second helpings ? Because our church provides special activities, and we feel obliged to take part in them ? There are likely to be a whole host of reasons that operate inside us and lead us to attempt to make Lent a special time ? but should we not ask God to help us keep Lent for the right reason ? And surely the right reason is to be found if we combine the Prayer Book Collect for Quinquagesima, the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, with I Corinthians 13. Here is the Collect:

O Lord, who hast taught us that all our doings without charity are nothing worth: Send thy Holy Ghost, and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of charity, the very bond of peace and of all virtues, without which whosoever liveth is counted dead before thee:Grant this for thine only Son Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen. 

Let us try to think about St. Paul’s words and those of the Collect, and ask God to help us absorb them, so that they really motivate us. Don’t let us think of Lent as a gloomy time, but as a time of opportunity for making some advance along the path that God has planned for each of us to walk in. Happy Lent !