Wisdom Calls
March 1, 2015 | Patrick Preheim, Joanne Ewert, Chris Friesen
Last Sunday after worship I had a brief conversation with Andrew Neufeldt and Lisa Doepker. Andrew was lamenting the talkative disposition of his daughter Brielle during children’s time. Andrew was saying, “I couldn’t see her but I could hear her voice and I was wishing she would quiet down to give the other kids a chance to speak.” Parents recognize the cry of their children in a crib, their cheer filled responses at children’s time, their shouts in the school yard playground. When children raise the volume, in pain or pleasure, parents listen carefully. They are sensitized to the voices of those who are more precious than silver, gold or jewels (Pr 8.10-11).
Wisdom, too, calls out and understanding raises her voice. On the heights, beside the way, at the crossways, beside the gates, at the access roads (8:1-3 New Jerusalem translation) the cry goes up. It would seem impossible to not hear her voice, to not head her instruction, to not stop at her shop for an order of wisdom to go. And yet we are all painfully aware that most of our ears are still dialing in the frequency of wisdom’s voice. She may be calling, but static or a cacophony of sound often hinders reception. That fixation with the bank account, that focus on job performance, that preoccupation with health, that all consuming concern for a family member, the attention demanded by children and chores—all of these and additional transmitters often make the cadence of wisdom hard to hear. The trick of this predicament, I think, is to not view the voice of wisdom in competition with various demands, but rather as a melody played alongside the important and necessary activities of life. Wisdom is sometimes found by shutting everything out and listening in silence. More often, I think though, wisdom is heard in the midst of the bussyness of life—at the crossroads and the access points of life. And wisdom will influence the way we act. To that end, then, I have asked two households from the congregation to share their experiences of Wisdom. I asked them,
“How have you observed / heard wisdom? Through a person? Through an event? Through a silence? Through creation? Was there something that made you distinguished this as God's wisdom (1st Cor 1.18-25) as opposed to worldly wisdom? How is this wisdom shaping the way you live?”. I will add my thoughts to these questions after we have had a chance to hear from the Ewert and the Friesen households. Please come and share with us.
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Joanne Ewert shares
In the introduction to his translation of the Book of Proverbs, Eugene Peterson defines WISDOM... and I quote...."Wisdom is the art of living skillfully in whatever actual conditions we find ourselves. Wisdom is the biblical term for the 'on-earth-as-it-is-in-heaven' everyday living". (end of quote)
Solomon is historically known for his "born" wisdom, for penning and itemizing his very long inventory of wisdom truths which probably make up most of what we know as the Book of Proverbs. The themes seemingly appear to be somewhat disorganized at times. He may have quickly written down random thoughts as they came to him....all common sense truths that we could say "Amen" to.
Patrick asked if I might share an act of wisdom I may have observed, words of wisdom I may have heard or experienced through a person, an event or possibly experienced in silence.
It sounded daunting. His request was initially denied. Within the next hour, however, I began to reflect on WISDOM I had experienced through others....and I knew I had to call Patrick back!
I thought about the wisdom learned from people in my past....teachers and pastors, wisdom heard over coffee at Tuesday Ladies Bible Study, wisdom learned from family members....and my thoughts began to centre around "wisdom moments" gifted by my father.
Had there been left-over papyrus space at the end of Solomon's note-making, I imagine my Dad could have added some thoughts of his own in his beautiful flowing cursive handwriting. His notes would have been quietly profound.......wisdom lessons in following God's way, statements about honesty, about pulling your weight in the local community, about respect for others and how to run a business with integrity.
Dad lived a godly life, a life of generosity and gifting, a life framed by discipline and hard work, a life of quiet accomplishments that were recognized by a Citizen of the Year Award in our small town. The overall framework of his life was characterized by a quiet wisdom, a wisdom not lost on his children.
A lasting lesson of wisdom he left with us centred around the good and wise use of money and the example of giving of his earnings and time to the work of the church and to people in need. In our early years he was not a man of great means, but faithfully gave to the church as he could, always topping up his financial giving with endless hours of volunteer time, both in the church and in the community. We did not always appreciate his importance of gifting time as it took him away from the family.
We children received an allowance beginning at a fairly young age and it was understood that we would each manage that allowance independently. We would bring our weekly offerings to the church from that allowance, just as we had seen our parents do. Tempting as it was to spend all of it on a new game or a banana split at the local confectionary, we had been taught that gifts to the church were very important.
Dad's "money wisdom" lesson never lost its direction or emphasis in his 93 years. In his own elder wisdom he revised his last will and testament in his latter years to underscore that lesson. In that document generous gifts to various church related organizations were itemized FIRST. The remainder of his and Mom's estate would be divided equally among their four offspring.......and the lesson continued. Each of us were to choose a charity of our choice that could be sanctioned by Mennonite Foundation of Canada and we were then to gift a prescribed percentage of our estate gift to that chosen cause. Even after he and Mom had passed from this realm, we were still being taught a lesson of incredible wisdom....the sharing of their gift to us. Another elder wisdom moment.
In his first collection of wisdom truths Solomon wrote:
"Start with God - the first step in learning is bowing down to God.
Pay close attention, friend, to what your father tells you; never forget what you learned at your
mother's knee. Wear their counsel like flowers in your hair, like rings on your fingers."
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Chris Friesen shares
I was a little hesitant when Patrick asked if we would be willing to talk about aspects of wisdom in our lives. My initial reaction was a variation on Proverbs 17 --"Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue."
Part of me was thinking "Yes, let someone else do the work!" but that goes against the conviction that my wife and I share that a church is a community, and that means that we should be involved in it rather than passive attendees.
We sat down and starting thinking about what we could talk about, and we had narrowed it down to two areas--specifically to the need for community involvement in children's ministry and the need for different groups within the church to be involved with each other.
Given the above, imagine my surprise when I was reading the newspaper on Saturday, and saw that Gordon Smith (president of Ambrose University College and Seminary) would be giving a talk this coming week at Emmanuel Baptist Church entitled "Generation to Generation", about passing on our faith from one generation to the next. (I highly recommend going, he's a good speaker.)
Among other things, the article quotes him as saying:
"Hanging out only with your own age group is disastrous when it comes to developing a strong faith and a strong faith community. We need to design congregational life where older men are interacting with young men, young women with older women. There's a blessing to be received by inter-generational interaction."
This rang particularly true with us, as we feel that both parents and the larger church community play a role in passing on the faith from one generation to the next.
In our own lives, this belief has played a role in our coming to this church.
Immediately prior to coming here we had been attending a church with multiple paid kids' ministry staff. At first it seemed very organized and attractive, but there was a tendency towards less community involvement, less learning and growth for the congregation, and it was isolating for the staff who were being paid to "take care of that stuff". It fed into a rationale of "sit and be served". It allowed people to arrive at the church thinking, "What programming is here for me and my needs? What will you do for me?" In contrast NPMC and the Mennonite tradition of everyone pitching in and getting things done ideally leads to community, to serving together, eating together, serving each other, and building together.
One of the advantages of having everyone help out is that it throws us all together. Whether it be preparation for or cleanup after a potluck, or helping out with Sunday School, or serving in the community, or playing board games together, it means that people of all ages get a chance to mingle.
There is a danger in focusing too much on age-segregated programming. This is not to say that it's all bad, but we would be wise to create an intentionally inter-generational community. Children (and young adults, and not-so-young adults) need a strong support group of loving people to help them navigate our world. The more support the better. If the wisdom of years of faith and action is not to die with our elders, then it needs to be passed down. There is also wisdom in teaching our children to socialize well with a diverse range of people, from infants to elders. This will help them develop into well rounded adults. In society today, there are very few places where multiple generations gather together and have contact with each other. Church is one of the few such places still remaining, so let's take advantage of it.
Lastly, I appreciate having a space where I know my kids will be safe as they run around and visit with strangers, and that the community will take care of them. (And this means that you all have permission to step in and parent my kids if they are getting rowdy!).
---------------------Patrick:
Wisdom calls out and understanding raises her voice. She is in the busiest parts of the city and the busiest parts of my life. Wisdom is there, if I am able to slow down and observe her. A book I read some years back helped begin practicing attentiveness to Wisdom. Esther de Waal’s The Celtic Way of Prayer recalibrated my receptors to something I consider to be wisdom. In this book she described the ways in which Celtic Christianity encouraged the sanctification of every circumstance by wedding it to prayer. So, for example, if a person is walking to church on a cold Sunday morning in March and is privileged to watch the dawn breaking that becomes a moment to offer prayers of illumination: that Gods warmth and light might rise for me, my congregation, the people of God. If a person finds herself shoveling walks after a skiff of snow that becomes the moment to offer a prayer that the way of God might be known, that God might attend to the slippery dangers in our path. And if a person finds himself scrubbing a pot in the kitchen that is the moment to present one’s soul to be cleansed yet again, for like the soup kettle it needs to be regularly sanitized. You see how it goes. It is not significantly different than the posture taken by the 17th century Carmelite known as Brother Lawrence. “According Brother Lawrence, wherever we might find ourselves, whatever the task at hand, we should perform our duties with a consciousness of God’s loving presence. With such an awareness all our activities [would be] hallowed; we would thus find ourselves in a state of continuous prayer or conversation with God” (Robert Ellsberg, All Saints: Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses For Our Time, p. 24). The wisdom of this approach to life has caused me to slow down and be less reactive. And that is a good thing!
I have also heard the voice of wisdom as I reflect on the challenges of life. The cycle of experience, reflection, and renewed action continues to teach me much. It does require, though, a spirit of humility. Life is filled with rash words & acts, with unspoken curses, with despondent emotions. Internal dissonance is the result of any of these. Wisdom asks me, and all of us I think, to consider our struggles which break down our spirits and community life with it. Wisdom asks us to name our fear, our grief, our anger, our pain, the sin of life turning it over to God so that they may be crucified, buried, and resurrected in new and radiant form. We can, with God’s assistance, learn from our losses! Fear of the Lord, awe, we are told in Proverbs is the beginning of wisdom. Acknowledging there is one beyond us who holds us, all people, all creation, and all imperfection can free us to act nobly. Dag Hammarskjold, former U.N. Secretary General, modeled this cycle of experience, reflection and renewed action in conversation with God. Truly, he was a man of action who was able to achieve much on account of intense personal work. Markings, his journal published after his death, points to the spiritual concerns he faced while negotiating treaties and housing refugees.
“Pray”, he wrote, “that your loneliness may spur you into finding something to live for, great enough to die for.” Another entry…“Long ago you gripped, Slinger. Now into the storm. Now towards your target.” “Do not seek death. Death will find you. But seek the road which makes death a fulfillment”, he wrote. Hammarskold died in a plane crash while attempting to negotiate a peace treaty in central Africa. (Ellsberg, p. 407-408)
Like the Celts, like Brother Lawrence, like Dag Hammarskold Wisdom calls to us out of the stuff of life: divine prayers scripted in nature, daily chores, world shaping negotiations, domestic bliss and domestic pain. She asks us to pay attention and pay homage to that Someone or Something beyond us. Journeying and conversing with the One beyond us we are changed and strengthened to bring positive change to our world. May we train our ears to Wisdom’s call.
Amen.
