Wisdom and Perception
(a brief Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)
The coming week's Lectionary passages are all about wisdom and perception. Read through them and see if you agree with me. It's a quick read; there are only four passages. What I see there underscores something that has been bouncing around in my head for a while: that these two things need each other; that wisdom without perception is powerless and that perception without wisdom is directionless.
Wisdom absent perception just sits there. No matter how wise one might be, without the ability to perceive the surrounding culture, without the ability to grasp the stimuli flowing by, the wise one can only be passive. Speaking inappropriate maxims to unappreciative audiences or, more likely, waiting until someone comes seeking their wisdom.
Alternately, perception without wisdom has no compass, has no idea what to do with the received stimuli, is just as likely to fight or flee when neither is the best action. No matter how perceptive one might be, without the reflective qualities of wisdom, without that spiritually informed rubric for decision-making, the perceptive one simply responds to the stimuli. Slap for slap, eye for eye, life for life.
God gives wisdom. All we need do is ask. God gives us ears to hear, and will bless us with vision, when we seek it. Ask. Seek. Knock.
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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Third Sunday in Lent (March 11, 2012)
Exodus 20:1-17
Psalm 19
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
John 2:13-22
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/
If you are in Waco Friday morning, join our group for breakfast at 8:00 at Cafe Cappuccino (downtown on 6th, near the Courthouse). Good food and good discussion.
Enjoy the week!
Steve
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