August 25, 2013

The Gift of Wisdom! Beautiful Message ♥ Pt 1 of 3

The Gift of Wisdom
[James 3:13-14]

I was inspired to focus on the James passage today because of a comment my granddaughter made during a children’s sermon at her church in Houston. It seems that the pastor had gathered all the children around him and posed to them a question. He said: Does anyone know the difference between a person who is smart and one who is wise? Our Shelby raised her hand and the pastor recognized her, “Yes, Shelby, what is the difference?” She replied: “A smart person is someone who knows a lot of stuff and a wise person is one who makes good decisions.”

A reading from JAMES…………

“You say that I am repeating something I said before. I shall say it again. In order to arrive there,
to arrive where you are, to get from where you are not,
YOU MUST go by a way wherein there is no ecstasy.
In order to arrive at what you do not know
YOU MUST go by a way which is the way of ignorance.
In order to possess what you do not possess
YOU MUST go by the way of dispossession.
To arrive at what you are not
YOU MUST go through the way in which you are not.
And what you do not know is the only thing you know.
And what you own is what you do not own.
And where you are is where you are not”
-T.S. Elliot. “East Coker”

If T.S. Elliot and Shelby Kallus are correct, and I sense that they are, WISDOM is a quality we are given and not something we gain. Wisdom is not how much you know, but knowing what is IMPORTANT to know as we read between the lines of our lives.

The author of James asks the question: “Who is wise and understanding among you?” And he goes on to supply his own answer: By ones good life let that person show their works in the gentleness of wisdom.” Wise people live out their gratitude for God’s gift in happiness, gentleness, and serenity. Or as Eliot would suggest: wise people know that what they do not know is worth knowing, where they have not yet been is important to be, and what they do not possess is what is important to possess. Wisdom is something accepted as a gift.

God in Christ offers us a life of purpose and meaning. God gives us wisdom that is….insight into GOD’S VISION for humankind. Our receptivity to that, our response to that, is the “GOOD LIFE” we live FOR others.

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