25th of January, 2016

Proverbs 3

H,

Wisdom is that other thing, is it not? It is to fan free of the old excesses and dashed hopes of living in our own state for so long that we forget that the universe and all its thralls do not fall into our own personal curve. We are not the epicentre of the great things that will now occur. This used to be known and understood by all who followed wisdom. It used to be that humility was a virtue and following after the great wind was an art. Now, to fill the empty spiritual logic of our under-pastored state we fall for milky dreams of greatness. We need to be told we matter and we are celebrated because the real corrupt world in which we live does not have space for any ego but evil. The thing we give up in the process, though, is credulity. Any drug may make you feel like you are ten feet tall but, after all, you are not ten feet tall. There is no amount of self-help guru-ism that can cover up the fatal flaw inherent in every human being.

Wisdom is that light that speaks of a better day. It is not flashy, has no curls, and does not subscribe to loud boom mikes or flashy tag lines. It is simple and quiet and underneath it all. This is no accident because we have hidden ourselves under layers of nonsense. It follows that  the real ‘us’ may dwell underneath it all. The truth is hidden under the false themes and soundbites of so called ‘greatness’ and so it lies underneath it all, speaking to us only when we are ready to leave flash bulbs and false ideals behind. We can hear it all in no other state.

It takes the epic fall and fail to see what wisdom does. It is not a once and all epiphany but the gradual breaking down of the human soul till it fires up with the hunger for the filling only eternity brings. It is not by accident that Christianity is for the outcast, broken, poor, widowed, orphaned and despised. In one sense this is how we all are in many places of the soul. In another sense these are the scavengers of grace that life has broken and so now they are ready to be fixed by God. Do not look at those who are down in the proverbial dumps as failed experiments in living. Wisdom tells us life will break us all. Ernest said it so well and it did break him. The other part of the story is that this break will lead us to the light that shines brighter and brighter even in the darkest day of our souls.

Amen.