O Wisdom
-
December 17, 2019O Wisdom, uttered by the mouth of the Most High, reaching from one end of earth to the other with great power, yet ordering all things with gentleness, come! Teach us the way of prudence!
O Sapientia
I cannot think unless I have been thought,
Nor can I speak unless I have been spoken.
I cannot teach except as I am taught,
Or break the bread except as I am broken.
O Mind behind the mind through which I seek,
O Light within the light by which I see,
O Word beneath the words with which I speak,
O founding, unfound Wisdom, finding me,
O sounding Song whose depth is sounding me,
O Memory of time, reminding me,
My Ground of Being, always grounding me,
My Maker’s Bounding Line, defining me,
Come, hidden Wisdom, come with all you bring,
Come to me now, disguised as everything.
Poem: Malcolm Guite; Image: Adam Boulter
Jesus is Wisdom’s child, the word made flesh who inhabits all in his creative Spirit, himself growing to maturity within us. Let us know ourselves spoken by the mouth of God, and so learn to speak him in every circumstance. Let us know ourselves embraced by his presence, and so learn to embrace all from end to end in breadth of prayer. Let us know ourselves formed and shaped by his hands, and so learn to form and shape our world, strongly and gently, after his image. May we discover stirring within “a spirit intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, agile, clear, unstained, certain, never harmful, loving the good, keen, unhampered, beneficent, kindly, firm, secure, tranquil” (Wis 7:22-3), and so learn to live as Wisdom’s children in the world.
