God is working things out for you.

Today’s gift from the prophet Isaiah:

And I will lead the blind in a way that they know not,

in paths that they have not known

I will guide them.

I will turn the darkness before them into light,

the rough places into level ground.

These are the things I will do,

and I will not forsake them.  (Isaiah 42:16)

No matter what we may have planned, we don’t really know what the rest of this day will bring us. Perhaps things will go as we have planned, but perhaps things will go the way God has planned and perhaps His plans are different than ours. Have you ever found this to be true? I know I have. In fact, I wrote about it in a reflection back in June:

A few months ago I was praying for things to turn out a certain way. Well, they didn’t. And so, once again, like so many other times in my life, I am walking on ground I have not walked on before. Just like Abraham, and Moses, and the Blessed Mother, and the apostles, and so many of the saints, and in the lives of countless ordinary people who have been led in directions they never would have planned for or predicted or perhaps even wanted.

Through it all, God is with us, and the promise He makes through the prophet Isaiah can reassure us if we take it to heart. It is He Who is leading us, He Who will bring us through whatever life might throw at us, He Who is most powerful in our lives when things seem most hopeless, He Who is most powerful in our lives when it seems to us that He isn’t there at all. (Consider the famous “footprints” poem.)

Don’t forget that these words were directed to the people of Israel when they were living in miserable exile in a land that they didn’t know and that they would never have chosen for themselves. But even at this time, when things seemed the bleakest, He was working something out for them.

He is doing that for you as well.

May this prediction from Isaiah fill you with peace, and hope and a new type of wisdom that you wouldn’t have been able to understand a short time ago.

Blessed Advent to you!

Wisdom at Work

Wisdom, part 3

This is the third of a series of reflections based on the hymn “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” The series began on December 1.

“ . . . and teach us in her [Wisdom’s] ways to go.”

Something’s been going on in my life the past two weeks that I thought I needed to address, but I wasn’t sure how to go about it. I actually had several options to choose from. Meanwhile, I’ve been writing these reflections on Wisdom and as result I’ve been asking for guidance in my prayer and meditation, knowing full well that the way of Wisdom was not necessarily the way I would choose if left to my own devices.

So I prayed, and waited. God gave me the grace not to do anything at all about the situation until I was able to pray with conviction: “teach me in her ways to go.”

So what happened? Yesterday afternoon  I was with one of the people involved in the situation, but chose not to say anything. Instead, I found myself acting in a way I never would have predicted, and as a result, simply by being with the other person and practicing compassion and gentleness was all that was needed to bring relief to something that could have been tense and full of confrontation.

This was a truly graced moment. It is important to stress that none of the solutions I had come up with on my own were applied to the situation. Something entirely different and unexpected proved to be the key to unlock the door to resolution.

God’s ways are not my ways. But because I was given the grace to surrender to his Wisdom, and to lay aside my own limited point-of-view, I was able to witness Wisdom at work. And not only did the situation benefit, but I benefitted as well. And I hope you can benefit from my telling this story.

Blessed Advent to you.

Making Room for Wisdom

Wisdom, part 2.

O come, O Wisdom from on high,

who orders all things mightily:

To us the path of knowledge show

and lead us in her ways to go.

Rejoice!

I don’t know about you, but there are times when I seem to be all filled up with “mind stuff: ” Things I’ve learned, things I think I have figured out, my continually rehashing of things from my past and constant predictions about what the future will bring (which are almost always nothing more than fantasies). In addition to this, of course, I have my own attitudes, opinions, attractions and distractions to deal with minute by minute and moment by moment.

This is a serious problem. If my mind is already full of stuff, how can I possibly expect Wisdom to come to me, to show me where true knowledge lies, and to lead me in a wise and holy path?

We’ve got to make room for Wisdom. In order to do that, we’ve got to do some serious housecleaning, some serious letting go. We’ve got to put our thoughts on “hold” and silence the constant internal chatter so that we can begin to hear the voice of Wisdom prompting us to a new way of life.

This is where and when meditation, or Centering Prayer or mindfulness  becomes so important. It doesn’t matter what you call the process or technique: the process is always the same.

If you’ve never meditated before, do a search for one of the methods I’ve named above or seek out one of the many excellent books on the subject. But, for what it is worth, here is meditation in a nutshell:

Sit quietly and focus you attention on your breathing. Notice the breath as it goes in and out of your body. If possible, count the breaths up to 10 and then begin again. Keep your attention on your breath (or on some phrase such as ”Come, Lord Jesus.” You mind will begin to wander and thoughts and feelings will arise that take your attention away from your breath or your phrase. When you notice this happening, gently return to your meditation. This will continue to happen, and each time it does, return to the basic meditation.

After a time, you will come to realize that you are the “space” through which thoughts and feelings move. You are not your thoughts; you are not your feelings. You are the one who has thoughts and feelings passing by in an endless parade. Let them pass through.

If you do this on a regular basis (15-20 minutes is good), you will begin to discover and realize many things that you have not realized before. Perhaps this is the voice of Wisdom speaking to you . . .

Blessed Advent to you.

We are not Wisdom

We continue today with the second verse of the Advent hymn:

O Come, O Wisdom, from on high,

Who orders all thins mightily:

To us the path of knowledge show,

And teach us in her ways to go.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to you, O [Israel].

We are not Wisdom. Sometimes we may be a little wise, and hopefully, as we make our way through the spiritual life we grow bit by bit towards wisdom, but we are still not Wisdom. Let’s take a look at what the book of Wisdom has to say about Wisdom itself (or herself, since Wisdom is personified as female in the ancient writings):

For in her is a spirit intelligent, holy, unique,

manifold, subtle, agile,

clear, unsullied, certain,

not baneful, loving the good, keen

unhampered, beneficent, kindly,

firm, secure, tranquil,

all-powerful, all-seeing,

and pervading all spirits,

though they be intelligent, pure and very subtle. (Wisdom 7-22)

If you have the time, I encourage you to read the entire seventh chapter of the Book of Wisdom.

And so, looking at the list, it is easy to understand that we are not Wisdom. (And, by the way, in the New Testament it is Jesus who is called wisdom. (1 Cor 1:24)

And since we are not Wisdom, many of the things we think and the attitudes and opinions we have may not necessarily be wise and true, no matter how much we cling to them or are addicted to them. And that is why we need to pray for the gift of Wisdom and the order and understanding it brings, while at the same time we need to pray for the humility and openness to realize that God’s Wisdom might require us to move in different directions than we are currently moving.

Once again, it comes down to the basic tenet of the 12-Steps: we are powerless, and falsely opinionated (12Steppers call this “stinking thinking” and as soon as we admit that we are ready to fall into the arms of a completely merciful, compassionate and wise Savior.

Our thoughts are not necessarily true, and our opinions are not facts, as much as we’d like to think they are. As one writer put it, “If you’re going to continue thinking the way you’re thinking, you’re just going to end up right where you are now.”

One final suggestion: be particularly careful of those most cherished and passionately held opinions of yours. They may prevent you from experiencing God’s visitation. 

When Wisdom Flees

I am back after a week’s “Medical leave.” I wish to thank everyone for your kind prayers, messages, and good thoughts.

Who are the people in your life that you consider to be truly wise? They don’t need to be scholars. Wisdom doesn’t deal with how much one knows but rather with how one knows. They also don’t need to be people in power; indeed, many rulers and bosses are not wise.

The wise are not often found among the sound and sleek or those whose lives are spent in the pursuit of status, material wealth, fame or prestige. (And how much of our own energies do we expend chasing after such things in our own lives?) No. The wise are found among those Jesus mentions in his Beatitudes: the poor in spirit, the meek, the mourning, the peacemakers, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, and, to be sure, among the persecuted.

We may know wise people who do not necessarily always act wisely. Sometimes, the weaker aspects of their humanity eclipse what in them may be considered wise.

How about you? When are you wise, and when are you not? I find a helpful guideline in the text of Wisdom 7: “. . . nought that is sullied enters into her (wisdom)” Wisdom is at all times pure: when our thoughts or actions are tinged with impurity, or mixed motives, or hidden agendas, then wisdom flees. “. . . wickedness prevails not over wisdom.” So purify your thoughts, examine your motives carefully, and, above all pray for the gift of Wisdom which, “passing into holy souls from age to age, . . . produces friends of God and prophets.”

If you have a chance, you’d do well to sit for a quiet few moments and look over what is found in Wisdom 7:22b-8:1.

Have a nice day. God bless you.