Daily Devotional • November 10
A Reading from Sirach 51:13-22
13 While I was still young, before I went on my travels,
I sought wisdom openly in my prayer.
14 Before the temple I asked for her,
and I will search for her until the end.
15 From the first blossom to the ripening grape,
my heart delighted in her;
my foot walked on the straight path;
from my youth I followed her steps.
16 I inclined my ear a little and received her,
and I found for myself much instruction.
17 I made progress in her;
to him who gives wisdom I will give glory.
18 For I resolved to practice wisdom,
and I was zealous for the good,
and I shall never be disappointed.
19 My soul grappled with wisdom,
and in my conduct I was strict.
I spread out my hands to the heavens
and lamented my ignorance of her.
20 I directed my soul to her,
and in purity I found her.
With her I gained understanding from the first;
therefore I will never be forsaken.
21 My heart was stirred to seek her;
therefore I have gained a prize possession.
22 The Lord gave me my tongue as a reward,
and I will praise him with it.
Meditation
Today’s reading is a heart-lifting paean for the search for wisdom. The searcher knows that the quest is a compelling adventure. The discovery is dependent on prayer and leading a pure life. One can read this and sigh with sympathetic pleasure, being reminded of the time centuries ago when theology was recognized as the queen of sciences. Back then, people knew that all pursuits and investigations came from theology.
From wisdom comes every human endeavor and desire: medicine, architecture, mathematics, poetry, engineering, quantum physics, cooking, art, literature, psychology, farming, and music. Sirach 1:1, 9 says, “All wisdom is from the Lord God; she dwells with him forever. It is he who created her … and infused her into all his works.” The search for wisdom is a rapturous adventure that is in every human heart. The Enlightenment comprised the 17th and 18th centuries; there was much good in it, but at its heart was a movement away from a divine understanding of all things. Therefore, Peter Kreeft calls it (rightly, I think) the Great Darkening.
Studies and pursuits that were separated from theology lost their source, their depth, and their direction, and they gradually became separated from each other. In Thomas Merton’s essay, “The Time of No Room,” published in 1966, he wrote about our culture’s rejection of faith: “A life that has not been chosen, and can hardly be accepted, has no more room for hope … It is haunted by the demon of emptiness.” The truly wise will seek wisdom. The key for finding it is provided dozens of times in the Bible: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
When C. S. Lewis began his professorship at Cambridge in 1954, in his inaugural speech, he said, “If one were looking for a man who could not read Virgil though his father could, he might be found more easily in the twentieth century than in the fifth.” That is, the Dark Ages are now.
David Baumann is a published writer of nonfiction, science fiction, and short stories. In his ministry as an Episcopal priest, he served congregations in Illinois and California.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
The Church of South India (United)
Grace Church, New York