Listen! Wisdom is calling out

I went on a meditation retreat on Saturday with some friends.

During one of the quiet sessions I found my thoughts turning to the following reading:

Listen!  Wisdom is calling out. Reason is making herself heard.
On the hilltops near the road and at the crossroads she stands.
At the entrance to the city, beside the gates, she calls:
"I appeal to all of you; I call to everyone on earth.
Are you immature? Learn to be mature. Are you foolish? Learn to have sense.

The wisdom that we should seek is not the wisdom of the world. If we base our wisdom on the way of the lord our wisdom will be unselfish.  Under God's unworldly and different priorities to act unselfishly reaps rewards.  The rewards are not in terms of material wealth but instead in terms of spiritual and also the well being of our mind.  To the world to act unselfishly is folly but it is good for our souls and our happiness!

God is at odds with the wisdom of the world and the "you scratch my back if I scratch your back" approach to our relationships cuts no ice with him.  We can see this very clearly in Jesus own life.  He didn't accumulate riches or even have a house to live in and yet we judge him to be the most serene individual that ever lived.  His unselfish love led him to sacrifice his life for us.  There was simplicity in his life that so often escapes us in our lives.  He lived in obedience to the word of God and allowed it to reign sovereign over his desires.

The worlds wisdom is what can derail us from this aim.  This is the sort of worldly wisdom that tells us how to make a fast buck at the expense of someone else's serious misfortune.  The letter to the Galatians gives us a way of understanding the distinction when it says:

"If you sow in the field of your natural desires, from it you will gather the harvest of death; if you sow in the field of the Spirit, from the Spirit you will gather the harvest of eternal life."

As Christians we are called to be different, we are called to be people who dare to allow God to have a say in our lives. 

We are called to be a people of the Spirit who enable God to be present in our society.  To let the Spirit direct our lives we need to be able to discern our individual way ahead.  We need to know the difference between the wisdom of God and the wisdom of the world, we need to find a way through prayer for the spirit of the living God to fill our hearts and our lives.

On Saturday in the peaceful and beautiful surroundings that I found myself. I felt that God's voice was gently calling to me that the way of wisdom starts when we quieten down enough to  listen to his voice speaking in our lives.  And that we do this by allowing time for daily prayer and meditation.