Back to Forum On Faith weekly article listing
We had been sitting in traffic on I-84 and had only traveled 18 miles in past one and one-half hours, the end yet not in sight. We finally arrived at the point of the traffic problem and witnessed a state patrolman with his back to the slow, merging traffic, presumably waxing eloquent with state workers about the troubles of the world. Thankfully, the state DOT is not our guide on the highway to heaven. For traffic merging so tediously from three lanes to one, would seem like an eternity and might better remind of the simile, "Slow as Hell."
Instead of using some desensitization techniques that a therapist might employ in our frustrating situation, I reached for my "Book of the Hours." replete with psalms, hymns, scripture readings and inspired songs. It was the day preceding the celebration of Yom Kippur.
Upon opening the book, I read: "They went astray in the desert wilderness . . . and he led them by a direct way to reach an inhabited city." Psalm 107 then proceeds to have the believer re-live some of the earthshaking events of Exodus and closes with the question to all of us: "Who is wise enough to observe these things and to understand the ways of the Lord?"
This psalm and so many others speak of wisdom -- that gift that was there from the beginning of time -- an "attendant at God's throne." Yet, we often get into dilemmas such as our traffic problem and much more serious ones, at that, while failing to seek discernment or wisdom from the Lord. Do you recall the story of Solomon from the First Book of Kings? He was faced with the unenviable task of having to decide which of two women was the true mother of a baby. Each had claimed the child as her own. His solution? To divide the baby in two and give one-half to each. His test prompted the rightful mother to give the child to the other in order to protect its life. Solomon returned the child to her.
Now, where did Solomon get such wisdom? The Book of Wisdom (9:1-12), a dueterocanonical (second canon) biblical text, cites a proyer of Solomon asking for said wisdom to lead Israel in this or that direction, to build a temple or not (for he didn't have an edifice complex!) and to recall on a daily basis the source of his leadership powers. The Lord offered him anything that he desired. And he chose wisdom.
Such is the power of discernment that we need to have in making life's decisions be they family,employment or social and leisure-time decisions. Nowhere is this clearer than in the Serenity Prayer: "Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change, to change the things that I can and the wisdom to know the difference." Such is why our world needs people filled with wisdom . . . shepherds of faith communities and government officials; parents and teachers; leaders in athletics, entertainment and community involvement. Consider the following examen:
If you were to win the lottery today, what would you do with the money? Would you:
As Saint Augustine once wrote: "Where your heart is, there also, lies your treasure."
The writer of the Book of Proverbs says: "The man who knows right from wrong and has good judgment . . . is happier than the one who is immensely rich. Wisdom gives a good, long life . . . Riches, Honor, Pleasures, Peace." (Proverbs 3:13)
On the week of August 12, a bright star-like object, larger than any night-time celestial body that I had ever seen (other than the moon), hovered high over the ocean horizon on North Carolina's Outer Banks. Its brightness reminded me of three stately people from nearly two thousand years ago. May we, also, choose our star and follow it WISELY.
Or if you could have anything in the world that you like (as Solomon was offered), what would it be?
Leo E. McIlrath is a member of the Connecticut CORPUS community.