Seeking Wisdom

Link to Daily Readings “Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give." Mt 10:8 But very few of us take vows of poverty or conduct our work pro-bono. What’s the source of this disconnect? Did Jesus mean this metaphorically? Perhaps he just meant the clergy? Or perhaps only itinerant preachers and healers, which we don’t typically experience in our daily lives. I’m trying to wrap my head around it, the way I’m understanding it best is the following. Just as God has freely given us our talents, we are to freely share them with others. God did not withhold the gifts of intellect and compassion, so we are not to withhold our ability to teach from those that desire to learn. God freely gave gifts of physical ability, which should be used to glorify Him. He freely gave artistic ability, good health, every opportunity we have. I think this starts to touch on something that’s been a personal philosophy of mine for a while. It stems from this idea, but also...

Matthew 7:24 - 26 "Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined." How can we tell if ours is the house built on rock or sand? Even if we have undergone seemingly serious trials they could only be precursors to the true tests that yet await us. There is also an emphasis here not on just believing in Jesus’s preaching, but allowing his Word to change the way we live our lives. How could we really say we believed if it was not evident in our lives? What good is the praise we give God if it comes from lips that r...

Wisdom 6:12-16 “Resplendent and unfading is wisdom, and she is readily perceived by those who love her, and found by those who seek her. She hastens to make herself known in anticipation of their desire; Whoever watches for her at dawn shall not be disappointed, for he shall find her sitting by his gate. For taking thought of wisdom is the perfection of prudence, and whoever for her sake keeps vigil shall quickly be free from care; because she makes her own rounds, seeking those worthy of her, and graciously appears to them in the ways, and meets them with all solicitude.” I feel like wisdom is often pictured as something incredibly hard to obtain. We have these images in our mind of astronomers climbing mountains, or explorers facing storms and danger, or just incredibly hard work that seems to go on interminably with no reward in sight. But these activities aren’t done in pursuit of wisdom, they are done in pursuit of knowledge! They are certainly sim...

“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes.” We are, I believe, both jaded and too easily impressed. In different arenas obviously. We are jaded to the material comforts which grace our lives, the possession of which was rare a generation ago, and impossible the generation before that. Elon Musk recently said that someone with a smartphone today has more power to access information than the President had thirty years ago, which seems like a reasonable assertion. But we don’t see it, because while it may be remarkable, it is not unusual . Here’s where the issue lies for us in our faith, we must stop ignoring the remarkable simply because it is the usual. Indeed, we should all the more be glad of remarkable things when they do happen with regularity, as it is a sign something is going definitely right in what can be a confusing and ...