THE NATURE OF WISDOM

SABBATH

In his quest for wisdom, Solomon gives us a very poetic account of the nature of wisdom. She is similar to that of the pagan goddess of wisdom, Isis. He seeks to intertwine the Greek wisdom with that of the Hebrew understanding of the Logos, the Word, being the personification of wisdom. Some have understood wisdom as the Spirit. Notice that wisdom is absolute perfection in the real sense since there are seven qualities of the nature of our wisdom, in groups of three. Seven was the perfect number and three being the divine number in Hebrew thought. Wisdom is personified as spirit; in other ways, justice or Word. Certain characteristics are mentioned: intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, unstained, certain, clear, not baneful, loving, good, keen, unhampered, beneficent, kindly, secure, firm, tranquil, all-powerful, all-seeing and all-pervading. It seems we could be almost describing a person with such qualities. Wisdom is described in feminine form as the one who reflects the purity of God, the aura of God, the spotless mirror of the power of God. Her work involved making friends of God and prophets. God loves the one whom she has possessed. She is light eternal, renews all things and passes into souls in every generation. In this meditation on wisdom, one can almost see parallels with the sequence given to us at Pentecost. In the sequence of Pentecost, the Church puts upon our lips the invocation of the Holy Spirit. “Shed your ray of light divine…the soul’s welcome guest… our inmost being fill… heal our wounds, our strength renew… guide the steps that go astray.” The sages of old gave practical advice on living. They were men and women of wisdom, aged with experience and powerful in their insight. Let us invoke these women and men of old so that we, too, would be filled with wisdom. Let us act wisely in our life for in this we shall find God’s favor. Fr. Brian Steele, MGL   Reflection Question: Pray for the gift of wisdom.   Lord, grant me wisdom of heart that I may please You all my life. Amen.   St. Monitor, pray for us.