Fog of Truth
Wisdom 7:1-14
Where has wisdom gone?
Photo taken from my window
I also am mortal, like everyone else, a descendant of the first-formed child of earth; and in the womb of a mother I was molded into flesh, within the period of ten months, compacted with blood, from the seed of a man and the pleasure of marriage. And when I was born, I began to breathe the common air, and fell upon the kindred earth; my first sound was a cry, as is true of all. I was nursed with care in swaddling cloths. For no king has had a different beginning of existence; there is for all one entrance into life, and one way out. Therefore I prayed, and understanding was given me; I called on God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me. I preferred her to scepters and thrones, and I accounted wealth as nothing in comparison with her. Neither did I liken to her any priceless gem, because all gold is but a little sand in her sight, and silver will be accounted as clay before her. I loved her more than health and beauty, and I chose to have her rather than light, because her radiance never ceases. All good things came to me along with her, and in her hands uncounted wealth. I rejoiced in them all, because wisdom leads them; but I did not know that she was their mother. I learned without guile and I impart without grudging; I do not hide her wealth, for it is an unfailing treasure for mortals; those who get it obtain friendship with God, commended for the gifts that come from instruction. - Wisdom 7:1-14
When we look out on a foggy morning like today, we can't see anything beyond a short distance, but we know it is there. We don't think that everything has disappeared overnight and that the world is gone.
We don't have to see every child be born to know what birth is like. Sure, we experienced it ourselves, as Solomon says in his prayer, but we don't remember that. What we know to be true in one instance, we know to be true in many.
Wisdom teaches us what we can extrapolate as a universal truth, and what is an anomaly.
According to Isaiah and Joshua, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Wisdom, so Christians who believe in the indwelling of the Spirit have a connection to wisdom that we can rely on to help us see clearly in the fog and darkness.
Like the buildings and trees hidden in the fog, the truth is out there.. We may not always be able to see it clearly, or even at all, but we should never doubt that it is there.
Wisdom teaches us to trust ourselves and to have patience when we feel lost. We are not alone. We are not lost. God has found us, even in our foggiest times. He knows where we are.
As I write this, I look out into the foggy morning and see that things I know are there start to emerge from the fog. We say the fog is lifting, but it seems more like it is receding, slipping away from us, going back to where it came from.
If we listen carefully, we hear life beyond the fog, as an infant might hear through the womb. We are being born to a new day, a new chance to see things anew.
Wisdom tells us we should try to see the world fresh each day. Will we listen?
More to come...