"Whoever loves wisdom, loves life. Those who wait upon wisdom early will be filled with happiness. Whoever holds wisdom close will inherit honor. Whoever pays attention to wisdom dwells secure"
Book of Sirach
One of the most outstanding psychiatrists in America who died in 1987 was Carl Rogers. Rogers developed what is called the humanistic approach to psychology. In his approach, he discovered that the personalities of his clients could be developed by moving them beyond the responses that had been habitually formed from their past experiences. For Rogers, deep down in each person is the innermost self. The core of our personality, this innermost self, he found, is basically healthy, positive, and society oriented. In other words, this inner most self is a much truer expression of our humanity.
In my last posting, I mentioned the Book of Sirach, one of the Wisdom books from the Old Testament. The above quote is from this Book of Sirach.
It is clear from this book of the Old Testament that "wisdom" is not conventional intellectual learning, like learning to be a lawyer or an accountant. Wisdom is a gift. Wisdom is something that wells up at the Soul or Spirit level of a person. Wisdom comes to us as a guide, enabling us to respond to life's situations in a manner that is most beneficial to ourselves and to those with whom we interact.
In the political scene today, particularly with the recent discovery of Senate expense scandals that we are hearing so much about in the news, we see evidence of clever well educated people who are not being guided by wisdom. What is it that prevents some from seeing and using the gift of wisdom?
It usually springs from a blindness that results from the past life's habits of self-centeredness, greed, anger, hatred, resentments, insecurity, arrogance, and many other things. These many things distort our vision as to what is important.
Jesus speaks about this blindness in the Gospel of John when he is approached by Nicodemus by night who asked Him many questions. The fact that Nicodemus meets with Jesus at night is symbolic of the blindness or darkness that many experience. Jesus tells Nicodemus: "What is born of the flesh is merely flesh, but what is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Flesh begets flesh. Spirit begets Spirit". What I believe Jesus is saying by this is that when it comes to our spiritual nature, humans are not sinful. But it is the "sarx" in us, which means the flesh element, through which sin enters the world and tends to move us towards self-centeredness. But it is through the gift of the Spirit within that the gift of wisdom is made known and moves us towards selflessness or a self-sacrificing love.
If we wish to tap into wisdom, or the Spirit, we must tap into God. Otherwise, we will have only the whims of the flesh to guide us. As evidenced by the scandals in our institutions; and yes, even in our churches, the flesh has not served us well.
Jesus recognizes this in what He taught and in how He lived. When the apostles confronted Jesus about the fact that someone who was not a part of their group was ministering in His name, Jesus told them: "Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me. For he who is not against us is for us. For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because they are a follower of mine, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.
In other words, that person is guided by wisdom.
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