Gusher: King Solomon and the Beverly Hillbillies (a Steve Orr Lectionary reflection)

“Come ‘n listen to my story ‘bout a man named Jed
A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed
And then one day, he was shootin’ at some food
And up through the ground come a bubblin’ crude ...
Oil that is ... black gold ... Texas tea.”

When I first heard THE BALLAD OF JED CLAMPETT, the theme song for the television comedy, The Beverly Hillbillies, I was instantly hooked by Paul Hennings’ music and lyrics. Catchy ... and very singable. And in just a few lines, he told the story of how Jed Clampett became a millionaire. Sure, I thought at the time, it’s a wholly unrealistic scenario —you don’t find oil that way— but that goes along with the show being a comedy ... right?

Wrong.

Shortly after moving my family to Midland, Texas in the early 1980’s, one of the first things I was taught about “oil country” was this: Oil is where you find it. That’s just a pithy way of admitting the central truth of oil exploration: no one really knows where the stuff is.

Oil. Gold. Silver. This has always been the big problem with drawing such treasures from the earth: no one knows where to find it. Oh, sure, there are people —smart, capable people— who have an idea about where one might find it. But no one knows exactly where to find it. There’s a reason they call it oil exploration.

So, when I read this week’s selection from 1st Kings, I wasn’t shocked that Solomon might have asked God for riches. Considering that every time someone drills a hole in the earth looking for oil, there is a great chance they will find absolutely nothing ... well, it just doesn’t sound so crazy that people might think they should ask God to give them riches.

But, scripture tells us there is something worth more than the treasures of the earth, and that is what Solomon asked of God: Wisdom. It pleased God that Solomon chose wisdom rather than many other things he could have asked for as King: riches, long life, the death of his enemies.

We, too, can please God by wanting wisdom. And unlike silver and gold, or oil, or all the other treasures one might try to draw from the earth, finding wisdom is not a game of chance.

We know right where it is.

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PHOTO (and info on the Spindletop gusher): https://www.history.com/topics/spindletop

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 15 (20) (August 19, 2018)
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//

1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14
Psalm 111
Proverbs 9:1-6
Psalm 34:9-14
Ephesians 5:15-20
John 6:51-58

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Join us Friday morning for DaySpring’s Lectionary breakfast at the Waco “Egg and I” restaurant. If you don’t see us, ask at the host stand. We spend that hour from 8:00 to 9:00 reading, discussing, laughing, praying ... all in the pursuit of wisdom.

Blessings,
Steve