Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Job chapter 28 verses 12 through 19, and 23 through 28:
12 ‘But where shall wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
13 Mortals do not know the way to it,
and it is not found in the land of the living.
14 The deep says, “It is not in me”,
and the sea says, “It is not with me.”
15 It cannot be bought for gold,
and silver cannot be weighed out as its price.
16 It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
in precious onyx or sapphire.
17 Gold and glass cannot equal it,
nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
18 No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal;
the price of wisdom is above pearls.
19 The chrysolite of Ethiopia cannot compare with it,
nor can it be valued in pure gold.
23 ‘God understands the way to it,
and he knows its place.
24 For he looks to the ends of the earth,
and sees everything under the heavens.
25 When he gave to the wind its weight,
and apportioned out the waters by measure;
26 when he made a decree for the rain,
and a way for the thunderbolt;
27 then he saw it and declared it;
he established it, and searched it out.
28 And he said to humankind,
“Truly, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
and to depart from evil is understanding.” ’
The journey towards wisdom is not one which can be bought or sold like a safari in Africa or a cruise across the ocean. The rich have no greater access. Perhaps the poor do; for the journey is harder for a rich man than a camel’s passing through the eye of the needle.
It’s only when we finally see that riches and fame and conquest and winning and all the trophies and trophy wives in the world are nothing if we are not decent in our hearts. For what does it prophet a man to gain all the greatness in the world and not be good?
So the journey begins. It is not an outward journey, but an inward one. It is a journey towards giving up power, domination, exploitation, and control. It is a journey of repentance and surrender and the yielding of the will.
The journey begins in fear.
“What must I do to be saved?” the rich young ruler asked. “Go and surrender it all,” Jesus told him. “Give it all up. Lay down everything. Then you shall find life.”
It begins in fear; it ends in life and love and the freedom of knowing there is nothing to lose that is not less than grace and truth and the peace which surpasses all understanding.
Today as I write it’s my 42nd birthday. I’ve spent this last week thinking with a lot of clergy friends about race and privilege and patriarchy and the dynamics of power which shape us as individuals and also as a society. And as I reflect on this today, I know how grateful I am for the journey. It’s not over. I’m still learning, still undoing, still becoming. And I have miles and miles to go before wisdom. But I also don’t want to miss how far I’ve come, how good it’s been to walk, and how blessed I am to enjoy God’s grace which leads me forward each joyful and undeserved step of the way.
The journey is hard. And I had a long way to go. I still have a long way to go. But I also remember the truth of Dr. King’s aphorism which says so much about me and also this country right now 242 years after its own birth:
“I ain’t what I ought to be. I ain’t what I’m going to be. But thank God I ain’t what I once was.”
The journey goes on. Step by painful and also joyous and grace-filled step.
“And at the end comes wisdom through the aweful grace of God.”
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