Wisdom

When God gave Solomon a choice of whatever he wanted to receive from all of God's providence, he chose wisdom. God told him he had chosen well and would be amply rewarded through the gift. The Church sees wisdom as a type of Christ -- another Gift that is larger on the inside than it appears on the outside.

I've noticed wisdom lately. I've seen it prematurely flashing out of my children, young as they are. I honor it when it's donated to me by a friend who cares more for what is best for me than about whether I will like what is said at the moment. And, to my surprise, I sometimes hear it coming out of my own mouth.

This is the part of growing older that I just love. God has, in fact, changed me over the years. I have grown in wanting what he wants. I am able to wait for good things, having seen that God's timing works exceptionally well. I know how to communicate the truth in love better than before, because I've seen fruit of trying lots of different approaches.

One might call this plain old horse sense. I would be inclined to agree with you, except that I see plenty of people who are smart, experienced and talented, yet who don't seem to be able to get out of their own way. Oh, I still find myself in that position too, sometimes. But, thanks to the mercy of Jesus, I have more than an abstract conviction that his ways are great than my ways. I have tried the other path often enough and have learned that the peaceful fruit of righteousness is far more juicy and sweet than the dry and woody fruit of getting what I might want instead. Folly, it turns out, is no fun.

Staying close to God's heart is the best place to be, and he gives us the tools to do it.

¹My son, if you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with you,
²making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding;
³yes, if you call out for insight
and raise your voice for understanding,
⁴if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures,
⁵then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
⁶For the LORD gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

Proverbs 2

See? It's a promise.

Keeping the laborer's keep

Today's Gospel reading is from Matthew 10:7-15 -

{Jesus told His Apostles to} "Preach as you go, saying, `The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying, give without pay. Take no gold, nor silver, nor copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor a staff; for the laborer deserves his food. And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it, and stay with him until you depart. As you enter the house, salute it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And if any one will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town."

Matthew also tells us that Jesus said "not to lay up treasures up on earth." That is certainly clear, stark teaching: I wonder what the "prosperity gospellers" make of those Scripture verses in amongst their "Name It, Claim It" sermons.

What I was struck by this morning at Mass is not only are we to keep from overamassing possessions, but I think these verses also tell us that once we enter a house, bringing our peace on it, we are to accept our keep, such as we find it, but not to take any of that with us, either.

Scripture truly lives, doesn't it? I found a new emphasis this morning. I'm cool (or I think I'm cool) with passing by a great deal of life's experiences and goods, because Jesus will give me what I need (whoever gives up land, or children, or father, or mother, will receive a hundredfold and inherit eternal life - good old Matthew). But then I have to keep giving that away, too!

Travel light.

And in this corner . . .

Well, it looks like it's going to be a fight, doesn't it? There will be at least one Supreme Court nominee during W's second term, and we'll be lucky if we can fight through the muck to the facts. In fact, Scrappleface gives us a preview, in his inimitable style.

The very able Oswald Sobrino, JD at Catholic Analysis offers a helpful post that draws from an article in the weekend New York Times that explains some of the judicial philosophies on the conservative side of the spectrum. Before your eyes glaze over causing you to close this window in self-defense, let me suggest this as a chance to become literate about the wrinkes of judicial decision-making. The terms "judicial activism", "strict-constructionist", "Constitution as living document" get thrown around hither and yon. Those of us without a legal education but with a point of view about the upcoming Supreme Court appointment(s) may well want to learn the language so our opinions can be responsibly honed and eloquently expressed.

As for me, I'll settle for far less than eloquence. I'll be happy not to embarrass myself. But I do intend to develop well-reasoned opinions when appropriate and to refrain when it's not necessary. So I at least need to become well-educated enough to tell the difference.

Land that I love

In all the tragedy and shock of 9/11, something valuable was restored to me. I regained the love of my country that the Vietnam war protests and Watergate had stolen. I renewed my appreciation of our unparalleled freedom and the courage and duty of our armed forces that have preserved it.

I honor God's unwarranted gift of allowing me to live here with the wonderful variety of men and women that he has likewise blessed. From the stouthearted determination of the pioneers, the clay-footed elegance of the antebellum plantations and the readiness to roll the dice that every willing immigrant had to have -- the legacies of all who have gone before make our lives richer.

I am thankful to have compatriots under the flag with whom I can link arms and say, "I am glad to be an American." May God bless us and keep us faithful to himself.

Peace

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
- our Lord Jesus, recorded by St. John 14:27

Peace is not the absence of effort, but the tranquillity of order.
- St. Augustine or St. Benedict or St. Thomas Aquinas

But Christian peace, true peace, is neither wilderness nor helplessness, nor stillness; that is the peace of cemeteries. Christian peace is life, it is motion, it is spontaneous action, the fruit of harmony and cooperation
- from the "General Notions" on a paper on peace by Msgr. Luigi Civardi

Finally, here's an almost over-familiar prayer. Yeah, yeah, you say, good old raggedy St. Francis of Assisi. But look at it with new eyes, and try and say it in a thoughtful way, as an examination of conscience.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
when there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

Grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand,
to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life

What say you of peace?