The Wisdom of Solomon

17^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

1 Kgs 3:5, 7-12

Rm 8: 28-30

Mt 13:44-52

How many of us would make the same choice as Solomon if given the chance? How many of us would choose human relationships over our own pleasure or success or comforts? As I grow older, I have come to understand that having wisdom and acting wisely is a great gift, and one that will bring all the other things to you as well. Because Solomon asked for such an unselfish gift, God gave him wealth and power and prestige, all the things he did not specifically ask for.

Solomon asked for an understanding heart to judge and rule God’s people and to know right from wrong. That request itself was a wise one. It showed great self-awareness, and that is the basis for wisdom. You must know yourself before you can understand another, just as you must love yourself before you can love another. How can you love your neighbor as yourself if you first do not love yourself? How can you understand your neighbor if you first do not understand yourself?

There’s a saying that wisdom is making good choices and knowing how comes from making poor choices. But just making a lot of mistakes does not make you wise. You have to learn from those mistakes and work hard to change your behavior to the good. We all know people who keep making the same mistakes over and over again, and never learn from them. And wisdom does not necessarily come with age nor with position. Solomon was not wise just because he was king, and yet though he was a youth he was regarded as the wisest person on earth.

Wisdom is also knowing what to do in a given situation. Wisdom can be painful to attain, because usually it comes from not knowing what to do and getting it wrong. It is that pain that remains in our memory so we can avoid it in the future. I’m glad it hurt to touch that hot stove when I was a child, because I haven’t done it since. It often takes time to become wise, because we are so very stubborn and so slow to change.

We often think of the wise person as someone who we can go to for advice. A wise person has something other people don’t, some special secret. The guru on the mountaintop who can give us the meaning of life. And many times, that’s what a wise person does. But more often wisdom is found in not doing something. Wisdom is most often self-restraint. It’s anticipating the consequences of an action and choosing not to act because it would not be in the best interests of the other person or make the situation better.

Wisdom is not responding back in kind when someone attacks or insults us. It’s not posting that rude comment or sending that nasty letter. And not only because it would be fruitless but because we understand that the best way to bring someone around to our point of view is not to attack them in return but to try to understand them. When we open ourselves up to that understanding, oftentimes the solution to the situation becomes clearer to us. Many times, our grace and patience will calm things down and help win the other person over. But mostly, the wisdom of not responding in kind is in the love we show for the other person by showing restraint. Turning the other cheek is not a sign of weakness but of love for the other person. How will attacking them show them the love of God within us?

It takes great courage to be a person of wisdom. It is not just hard to show restraint, it takes courage to admonish someone when required. It takes courage to tell your daughter that her lifestyle choices are putting her immortal soul in danger. She may reject you and your message or even her faith. It takes courage to go against a dangerous or sinful conventional wisdom. It takes courage to stand up for what is right and speak truth to power, but the world needs wisdom, especially these days. And it takes courage to learn from the wise, because it often requires deep changes to our lives. Wisdom rips away the pretense and gets to the depth of the truth, and that can be painful. Wisdom not only requires self-awareness but self-denial and humility.

Wisdom does not have to come just from our own experience, but from that of others. We all know people we consider wise. Maybe it is a parent or grandparent, a mentor or great leader or thinker. Or, all of the above. We can and should learn from wise people. We hear from Jesus in today’s gospel,

“Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven
is like the head of a household
who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.”

The wise person does not embrace change just for change’s sake. The wise person is a complete person and knows that wisdom is the sum total of a person’s life and experiences. They don’t throw out former worthy ideas and experiences because they know that is what had formed their new ideas. And the wise person knows that you can’t just jettison the past, with all its heroes and villains, virtue and vice. The wisdom of the ages is a valuable thing, because it is the foundation of the wisdom of the current age. And the wisdom of today is often born out of the folly of yesterday.

The best place to learn wisdom is the bible. You know, in scripture there is an entire book dedicated to wisdom. It is actually quite beautiful and profound. In it wisdom is described as one of the main attributes of God and is actually personified. Wisdom is described as a person, a woman actually, who was with God from the beginning, is of God, and is God. God is wisdom itself, and wisdom is how God interacts with all creation. Therefore, wisdom is holy because God is holy. When we act wisely, we are holy also.  Since wisdom comes from God our path to wisdom must be with God.

The wisest person in history was Jesus Christ. Jesus knew human nature better than anyone. Who knows the human heart better than the one who created it? People came to him for advice and guidance, or to try to entrap him, and he turned their hearts precisely because he knew their hearts. People were amazed at the depth of his wisdom, and many became his disciples because of it. And Jesus lived his wisdom with great courage and humility. It is the same with us. People will come to know and love Jesus Christ because of the wisdom of our lives and example. When we act with wisdom, we image Christ to the world and show the world the many practical and intimate ways God is working in their lives.

Wisdom is a gift we give to other people. It is totally selfless, if it is true. Solomon didn’t ask for anything for himself, instead, he asked for the ability to treat others as they should be treated. To truly love his neighbor as himself. When we act out of concern and compassion for another person, that is wisdom. When we put ourselves in their shoes to try to understand them, that is wisdom. When we get our own ego out of the way, that is wisdom. Being wise is to love and to love is to be wise.

We all are given the choice of Solomon, a man who knew his limitations and chose to rely on the wisdom of God. Learn from that perfect wisdom and let it guide you. Don’t worry if your store of wisdom is lacking. God has plenty to share.