Wisdom: A Time to Chill


Sirach 2 Good News Translation (GNT)

Faithfulness to God

2 My child, if you are going to serve the Lord, be prepared for times when you will be put to the test. 2 Be sincere and determined. Keep calm when trouble comes. 3 Stay with the Lord; never abandon him, and you will be prosperous at the end of your days. 4 Accept whatever happens to you. Even if you suffer humiliation, be patient. 5 Gold is tested by fire, and human character is tested in the furnace of humiliation. 6 Trust the Lord, and he will help you. Walk straight in his ways, and put your hope in him.

Ever since I started Bierkergaard over a decade ago, I have felt some tension between theology and philosophy. As theology is studying the Word of God and God Himself, there is quite a lot of infinity and mystery to deal with in such an endeavor. Not that there isn't a great deal of speculation in philosophy as a discipline either, but for me philosophy is not primarily housed in academia, but internally in our own minds, hearts, and souls. Everyone has a philosophy.

So, I try to incorporate both theology and philosophy in my writings here, much like Soren himself. Philosophy is our own take on life, gained primarily through experiences, good or ill. So, I am attracted to the wisdom books of the Old Testament, and recently the Catholic ones, that are not part of the Protestant Canon. The Book of James surprisingly is probably more in the genre of wisdom than the other NT books. Even though James is also very practical. And I guess that is my point; that philosophy must have a practical side, otherwise why bother?

In reading Sirach recently, one of the Catholic wisdom books of the Old Testament, I can't figure out yet why the Protestant Bibles would not ordain it as part of the Scriptures. Maybe there are some untenable doctrines later on in later chapters. So far, it has been a blessing and a good way to let the Spirit move in a way where He often does. Through wisdom, not a Great Wind and Tongues of Fire as in Acts 2. He can do what He wants but I don't think many of us will be a part of such manifestations, as they were from the first Pentecost after the resurrection of Jesus.  I am not a Cessationist per se but do consider the historical nature of such accounts as perhaps unusual if not once and done. The Holy Spirit doesn't going around slaying people today either as He did in Acts to the couple with the land lying about the purchase price. 

So, why wisdom? Wisdom is hard thought and hard fought for truths that have developed through life's furnace. It is not faith that makes them true but that the wisdom itself is true. There is a foundational place for faith of course. Some theology cannot be proven. Yet, wisdom is of a different type of affirmation...it is developed by the interaction of individuals and experiences. Non-Christians can be wise in many ways. Experiences can be reading or listening to others' wisdom of course. I listen to at least ten hours of podcasts and sermons weekly. My eyes aren't great, thus far my ears seem to be aging better.

Just to give an example of wisdom from my life right now. From Thanksgiving to the end of January, I knew ahead of time was going to be an exciting but hard push with all of the travel I had scheduled. I didn't expect food poisoning in Manila, $2500 of car troubles and all of the attendant issues, and the flu, to be added to the itinerary. It happened and I had to deal with it like it or not.  I also knew that I am entering the hardest phase of the school year at work and had a limited time to get my bearings before the next phase of the furnace.

So, I have recently powered-down. I am laying low. Recharging like my iPhone. Normally, I do dishes and etc. daily. This week I was running ragged so I decided wisdom would be to just deal with the pile on Saturday. So, I did. Mentally, doing the dishes just wasn't in the cards until Saturday. I just needed to recover. And laying off doing the dishes wound up being a simple way to do this.

A time to chill.

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