For those who are affectionately considered “word nerds” – we have the English verb “to know” and the corresponding noun “knowledge,” but the verb “to witten,” which was paired with the noun “wisdom,” is now obsolete. We have retained the word “wit,” but it has to do with comedy rather than with wisdom. Our language seems to reflect the fact that we have exchanged wisdom for knowledge … and knowledge for information. And we are poorer for it!
The Book of Proverbs (9, 1-4) says, “Wisdom has built herself a house…. She has dispatched her maidservants and proclaimed from the city’s heights: ‘Who is ignorant? Let him step this way.’” Jeanne Guyon, the 18th-century mystic, commented on this: “Far from excluding any, God throws wide the gates, that all may enter.” What are we doing each day to keep the gates to salvation wide open? Or are we closing them, by what we do or what we fail to do?
More on words: sometimes professionals use their technical language as a kind of barrier. This happens readily in the fields of religion and theology. While we can accurately say that Jesus is the “hypostatic union and the eschatological manifestation of the Triune God,” we will surely leave people shaking their heads in confusion. Jesus, on the other hand, opened “a new Way,” but He never used terms that His hearers could not understand. His teaching was (and remains) revolutionary, but His language was (and remains) the language of common experience. Perhaps that is why He said, “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.” (Matthew 11, 25-26) Let us no longer be content with information (which allows us to know about God). Instead, may we long for wisdom (which allows us to know Him, in a personal way).
Let us pray. “God Almighty, your wisdom includes an understanding of what is fair, what is logical, what is true, what is right, and what is lasting. We humbly ask that you grant us such wisdom, so that we might know you and your love more and more each day. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.”
