"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.
Showing posts with label sirach. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sirach. Show all posts
Monday, September 9, 2013
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Experiencing God - Lessons on Virtues 30
"Have mercy on us, O God of all, and put all the nations in fear of you. Let them acknowledge you, just as we have acknowledged that there is no God but you Lord."
Sirach
Sirach is one of the Deuterocanical books of Wisdom from the Old Testament. It was written approximately two hundred years before Christ by a man who devoted himself to a study of the Hebrew Scriptures. He decided to share the considerable knowledge that he attained from this study with the greater population. It is a book about "ethics" in public life and stresses that our true measure of character can only be found in virtue, not in money, wealth or position. The following excerpt is called "The Prayer of the People":
"Have mercy on us, O God of all, and put all the nations in fear of you. Let them acknowledge you, just as we have acknowledged that there is no God but you Lord."
In the teachings of Jesus found in the Gospels, we find much wisdom for living a live of virtue. The thing with Christ is that we experience His wisdom from two different directions; from what He said, and from how He lived. In fact, unlike us, at least some of the time, Jesus perfectly reflected in the way He lived, the wisdom that He taught. Jesus used every opportunity to convey to His disciples God's message to humanity, not only by what He said, but by how He lived. An example of this can be found in the synoptic Gospels.
We read in each of these Gospels how Jesus would draw His disciples aside and tell them of His upcoming death at the hands of the Chief Priests and Scribes. Often time, the disciples would have a somewhat dazed response to what they were told, probably not wanting to believe that such a thing could happen to their leader. In one instance, James and John came to Jesus and asked for certain favors: "Allow us to sit, one at at your right hand, and one at your left in your glory". And when the other disciples heard of this request of James and John, the felt an indignation towards them, a little put out that those two would be looking for special favors.
Jesus always uses these times as opportunities to teach the wisdom of virtues that were necessary to live the life of a disciple. Those virtues were not only taught by Jesus, but lived by Him, and He challenges His disciples to not only learn from Him but to incorporate these teachings in their lives.
Jesus's response to the Apostles: "Anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among you must to slave to all".
Matthew
Like the wisdom found in the book of Sirach, Jesus is saying that the true measure of character can only be found in virtue, not in money, wealth, position or honor. And then He goes on to wash the feet of His disciples and die a humiliating death on the cross to set them and us free from ourselves.
Virtue for Jesus was to love, but He knew that we could not love effectively until we have been set free by the Holy Spirit, a Spirit that could only be released by His own death.
If we could only begin to understand the depth of Christ's love for us, then our lives and the lives of the world would change in a flash. God's very Kingdom is present and active among us. We see this in Christ, in His words, and in the life that He lived.
Sirach
Sirach is one of the Deuterocanical books of Wisdom from the Old Testament. It was written approximately two hundred years before Christ by a man who devoted himself to a study of the Hebrew Scriptures. He decided to share the considerable knowledge that he attained from this study with the greater population. It is a book about "ethics" in public life and stresses that our true measure of character can only be found in virtue, not in money, wealth or position. The following excerpt is called "The Prayer of the People":
"Have mercy on us, O God of all, and put all the nations in fear of you. Let them acknowledge you, just as we have acknowledged that there is no God but you Lord."
In the teachings of Jesus found in the Gospels, we find much wisdom for living a live of virtue. The thing with Christ is that we experience His wisdom from two different directions; from what He said, and from how He lived. In fact, unlike us, at least some of the time, Jesus perfectly reflected in the way He lived, the wisdom that He taught. Jesus used every opportunity to convey to His disciples God's message to humanity, not only by what He said, but by how He lived. An example of this can be found in the synoptic Gospels.
We read in each of these Gospels how Jesus would draw His disciples aside and tell them of His upcoming death at the hands of the Chief Priests and Scribes. Often time, the disciples would have a somewhat dazed response to what they were told, probably not wanting to believe that such a thing could happen to their leader. In one instance, James and John came to Jesus and asked for certain favors: "Allow us to sit, one at at your right hand, and one at your left in your glory". And when the other disciples heard of this request of James and John, the felt an indignation towards them, a little put out that those two would be looking for special favors.
Jesus always uses these times as opportunities to teach the wisdom of virtues that were necessary to live the life of a disciple. Those virtues were not only taught by Jesus, but lived by Him, and He challenges His disciples to not only learn from Him but to incorporate these teachings in their lives.
Jesus's response to the Apostles: "Anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among you must to slave to all".
Matthew
Like the wisdom found in the book of Sirach, Jesus is saying that the true measure of character can only be found in virtue, not in money, wealth, position or honor. And then He goes on to wash the feet of His disciples and die a humiliating death on the cross to set them and us free from ourselves.
Virtue for Jesus was to love, but He knew that we could not love effectively until we have been set free by the Holy Spirit, a Spirit that could only be released by His own death.
If we could only begin to understand the depth of Christ's love for us, then our lives and the lives of the world would change in a flash. God's very Kingdom is present and active among us. We see this in Christ, in His words, and in the life that He lived.
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