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There was a woman preparing a meal for people. And according to the Book of Proverbs, the meal is wisdom. This woman cooks wisdom and shares wisdom with others. The first definition of wisdom is “to live for others.” The woman did not cultivate wisdom for herself. She did not prepare a banquet for herself; she cooked for others.
That is the first meaning of wisdom. Someone who lives for others is a wise person. Someone who lives only for himself is a foolish person. Someone who lives selfishly and proudly is a dead person, because that person is a fool.
The second meaning of wisdom is found in the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians. Here he talks about wisdom as living with others. The foolish person is the one who says, “I can do this alone.” The foolish person is one who says, “I do not need anybody.” The foolish person says, “I can live on an island, isolated from everybody. I can sustain myself.” That is a foolish person. Why?
Because nobody can live by himself or herself, alone. We all need one another. There are some people who live for others, but they don’t like others to serve them. Wisdom is to be able to live with others, to serve them and to allow them to serve us. A give-and-take relationship, that is what community is all about.
The last meaning of wisdom is found in the Gospel. Wisdom is to live for God. It is not enough that you live for another human being. It is not enough that you are able to live with other human beings. It is very important that you live for God.
To accept God in faith, to accept God in love, that is wisdom.
These are three meanings of wisdom for us today. Wisdom is to live for others, to live with others. But most of all, wisdom is to live for God.
It is no surprise, therefore, that pride is described as foolish pride. So is selfishness foolish selfishness. Let us ask ourselves,
“Am I truly wise?”
We pray to the God of wisdom to grant us the grace to discover the joy of living for others, living in community and living for God. Let us pray to God for wisdom.
WISDOM
Eph 1:17
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