Mining for Wisdom

Job 28:1-28
John 12:27-36a
“But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?” asks Job (Job 28:12). That’s a question I suspect we all ask from time to time. In fact, I think I must ask it several times a day. Where can wisdom be found? Where is understanding? Why do things seem so mixed up in our world and why does no one seem to have the tools necessary to deal with it all? In his collection entitled Chicago Poems Carl Sandburg included the work “Happiness.”

I asked the professors who teach the meaning of life to tell me what is happiness
And I went to famous executives who boss the work of thousands of men
They all shook their heads and gave me a smile as though I was trying to fool with them…

And as recently as the late 70’s singer Elvis Costello asked, “What’s so funny about peace, love, and understanding?” He was speaking for a generation of people who had become very disillusioned.

This is why the first several verses from the Job reading today seem so appropriate to me. The struggle to find wisdom and understanding in our lives can be very much like mining for precious metals or gems. Sometimes we must go to out of the way places, or wrestle with difficult ideas, or strain our eyes (or the eyes of our minds) to see what is not readily apparent. But like miners, if we will continue to work and to struggle and to exert the energy we begin to find ourselves enriched by the results, and sometimes in very unexpected ways. The object, of course, is to be come faithfully obedient to God’s will. “While you have the light,” says Jesus, “believe in the light, so that you may become children of light” (John 12:36a). Keep working with scripture, mining the rich veins of spiritual gold and watching for precious gyms of insight. Continue to tread the familiar ground of “old favorites”: Psalms 23 and 121, Micah 6:6-8, John 3:16. But be willing to search in the places that are unfamiliar to you as well, for “all scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…” (2 Timothy 3:16).

Ultimately Job offers the answers to the questions. “Truly, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding” (Job 28:28). But to do these things, to learn to fear (or respect) God and to learn how not to do evil are both worth the effort.

Prayer: O God, give us minds to comprehend the depth of your word that it may guide us all our days and help and comfort us throughout our lives. Amen.