Experiencing God 229 Wisdom

"Jesus exclaimed: I thank you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the clever and the intelligent, and have revealed them to infants."  
Gospel of Matthew

One thing I've learned during my school years is that there are people who are smarter than me, and there are people who are not quite as smart.  One of my friends during junior and senior high, Bob, was certainly smarter than me.  In fact, he went on to be a doctor.  I don't know why he was smarter.  He just was.  I don't think he worked any harder than I, but he was just able to do better.  Maybe his brain cells were aligned differently, who knows, but he was obviously a gifted person.

I believe we can also say this about success and money.  As with smartness, there are always people who have more money and success, and there are always those who have less.  Again, I fail to understand why, but success  just seems to follow some people, and others really struggle.  The point I'm trying to make with this is that our level of smartness, or our level of success, have really nothing much to do with wisdom, and particularly wisdom that comes from God through faith.  

We only need to read the newspaper to see evidence of very smart and very successful rich people who lack any sort of wisdom that comes from God.  

In the above Gospel, we hear Jesus saying:  "I thank you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the clever and the intelligent, and have revealed them to infants."  

In saying this, Jesus is not implying that there is anything wrong with being intelligent, being clever, or being successful.  But He is saying that when these things become a source of pride that leads to feelings of superiority and greed, then they will blind us to the things of God and His Kingdom.  It is only with child-like simplicity and humility that we can get beyond this pretense, to get beyond our attachment, and to place our trust in that which is greater, wiser and more trustworthy.  

And, of course, this applies to each of us as well.  We all have our strengths, our talents, our skills that enable us to perform in a manner that may seem superior to those who don't share our particular gift.  But the question becomes: "Do I allow my gifts to create an inordinate love for myself at the expense of others"? If they do, then they become our greatest obstacle to the higher gifts of God's grace and love.  Only the humble in heart, or as Jesus would say, only those with a heart of a child, can receive true wisdom of God and His ways.