Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Wisdom... the Heritage of words...

Dear Friends,

I sit here disquieted. I now have words for what I long for and have not gotten from my father. He currently is ill and may not make it. What I long for is the proper heritage of wisdom that I never got from him.

I now see from reading the models of William Pen and his “Some Fruits of Solitude”, of King Solomon (Proverbs & Ecclesiates) and King Lemuel (Proverbs 31), Brother Lawrence and “The Practice of the Presence of God” and others. That “Proverbs” are horizontal offerings and can be a heritage of love for one’s fellow man. A heritage of wisdom gathered over a life time.

In the Same way Psalms/Songs like those of David are vertical offerings… and so are the great historical hymns to the current songs of praise… Each generation needs to find it’s own voice of Praise.

Like it says in Colossians 1:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

I think that each generation is responsible to capture it’s own voice of wisdom for their generation… as well as their own voice of praise.

"No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thorn bushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:43-45)

We live in a time that is knowledge rich but thin on Wisdom. That is why we know how to do so much stuff… yet struggle with the quality of day-to-day life. We have quantity… Some of us are thirsty for the satisfaction that comes through wisdom that connects us lovingly to each other and causes us to enter into the history that matters.