The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.
We have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God [so] that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
(Proverbs 4:7; 9:10; James 1:5; 3:17; Colossians 1:9–10; 3:16; 2:2–3, ESV)
“The worst things that happen do not happen because a few people are monstrously wicked, but because most people are like us. When we grasp that, we begin to realize that our need is not merely for moving quietly on in the way we are going; our need is for radical change, to find a power that is going to turn us into somebody else. That is what the Gospel offers to do; and it delivers us, once and for all, from the desperate folly of making experiments in the moral life. Always remember, when you experiment with your soul, that you can never judge the result…. As soon as we have done something that is nasty, … we have tarnished the mirror in which we are to look at our own reflection. If the standard by which we are going to try to judge and guide our lives is the mind of Christ, then we are going to try to live in constant fellowship with Him and in company with others who are seeking that fellowship with Him.”
—William Temple
From Day Seven, Spiritual Exercises. Sacred Margins: On the Spiritual Life of a Writer.
In my deepest darkest night
again I’m called to understand
that it’s both privilege and right
to rest in God’s warm mighty hand,
for I can’t do this any more,
I cannot face the flaring pain,
but there is an open door,
and there’s shelter from the rain
of my pride and of my tears,
of a dreadful circumstance,
and in this refuge all my fears
evaporate in but a glance
from He who breathed me into birth,
from He who whispers of my worth.
Amen! Great reminders for a Monday morning.