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.

"I call you friends"

Those words from Jesus really reach me.  They are the extraordinary statement of the new relationship that exists between humankind and God. They are in a way a declaration of love for humankind. After all true friendship is a love.  There can be a stage in a relationship between two people where it changes and grows and there is a dawning realisation that it has moved on to a deeper level.  In a similar way this is Jesus speaking out loud what he and the disciples might have known in their hearts for some time. 

Maybe it is just a tiny phrase to us that is hidden away in a longer speech that Jesus made at the last meal that he had with his companions.  But my belief is that it is very important.  The other things that were said at the meal are important.  But they all stem from, or are motivated by, the friendship love expressed.  Jesus is the tenderness of God expressed in human form.  Jesus fully human yet fully divine is the message of God for all of us.  He teaches us that God is not too far away for us to reach.  And that His command to love (though difficult) is not impossible.  In fact it is the only thing that can make our lives worthwhile.

Of course the next thought is how do we respond to the friendship that God is offering us.  I was thinking about that and remembered a poem by Kahlil Gibran that I have kept in a little notebook for years.

"and let your best be for your friend.
if he must know the ebb of your tide,
let him know its flood also.
for what is your friend that you should
seek him with hours to kill?
seek him always with hours to live."

I will think again about that poem this week.

Post Script: The quote from Jesus is to be found in the gospel of John if possible read the whole passage which can be  found at John 15

Choose Life!

I have been thinking a lot this week about how we have a choice every day between what is good for us and what is bad. At some levels this daily choice is between life and death. Sounds extreme doesn't it?  But the accumulated effect of our daily choice and unconscious choices (habits) pile up.  With physical  choices this leads to ill health if we choose bad things and good health if we choose good things.  I think that is true of our spiritual life as well. Yes , we have a spiritual life!

In fact it was one of the readings at mass that set me off thinking about all this. Do I choose life on a daily basis? And in a way just as importantly can I teach myself to choose life.

This was the reading

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (New International Version)

“this day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

After all when it comes to it we have one chance at our life. We live once and deserve to live to the full.  Can we  make that choice?  To choose what blesses our life and that which enriches it at a physical and spiritual level.

"Pray, but row to shore"

"Pray, but row to shore" I was reading a while ago and I found this old proverb. I love it. It is quite profound really. It emphasises for me the fact that although we pray we need also to act. To use our free will to go down the path the spirit leads. It is no good sitting in the middle of the lake (for example) in despair, not moving and praying and praying to be rescued when instead we could start rowing. We might not get to the shore but at least if we are moving that way we are increasing our chance to be saved.

Lord in my life help me to pray and row. And please Lord tell me where to row to.

"Your words are spirit Lord and they are life!"

I believe that these words that come from the gospel are true and can have an impact on our lives. That is why I want to share this log with you.

I also want to invoke a special time of Kairos into my life and the life of any reader who chooses. That line "Your words are spirit Lord and they are life!" is from a psalm.

I believe that God's 'words' are revealed to the world through the scriptures, through Christian tradition and by listening to the voice of God which comes to us in other ways, for example from those who have wisdom or from listening to God in prayer time. Our God can speak to us in visual ways as well. The important thing is that they are living words! Not dead words! Words that can reach our hearts!

Sometimes there are special times a time appointed by God, where a group of people (or even a person alone) can reach a new understanding - a new knowledge of God.

There is something about the scriptures that is very nourishing. Somehow time and time again they can speak to different situations and bring to those that listen the voice of God.

And I have learnt that it is very true to say that there is power in the word of God. This power is positive. It is the power to convince or the power to let the truth bring people to an understanding of God's nature and sometimes to come to an understanding of the need to change direction in their lives. To bring people to an understanding of God's kindness and mercy.

As I say because it speaks the truth the word can sometimes bring us to a stage of sorrow sometimes even to be moved tears but this is really only the start - although we are called to recognise that we are sinners we are not meant to wallow for ever in the dreadful realisation of our sinfulness. The realisation is only there to make us wake up and turn back to God. once we have woken up we need to turn to God straight away and experience his love and mercy.

" Do not be sad: the joy of the Lord is your stronghold."