Lady Wisdom

Do you hear Lady Wisdom calling?
Can you hear Ms. Insight raising her voice?
She's taken her stand at First and Pike!
at the busiest intersection, right in Pike's Place Market
where the traffic is thickest, she shouts,
"Hey, I'm talking to all of you,
everyone out here on the streets, Listen!"
   (adapted from The Message, Proverbs 8:1-21)

It is clear from Proverbs 8 that God as Lady Wisdom is not the face of God that is hidden and silent.  On the contrary, She is blaringly obvious.  Can't miss Her!  This passage teaches us that the problem isn't God; it's us.  We are ignoring and dismissing God just as we might any street-corner preacher.

Why are we doing this?  What She offers is abundance, honor, the right use of power, truth, justice, and fair laws -- in sum, wholeness, a good way of life for individuals and societies.  Why don't we want that?

Maybe because we think the cost is too high.  Personal integrity comes with a price tag; you might lose your job or career.  Truth and justice are expensive, so let's just keep the organization as is.

Perhaps.  But I think the reason is lack of faith.  For Jesus said if we knew what the spiritual realms offered, we'd give away everything we owned in a second in exchange for it.  So it isn't that we think that the price tag is too high.  Oh no, it's that we don't believe in the real worth of what's being offered us.  We think it's too good to be true!  We think She's running a street-side scam, so we won't take the risk.  We won't let go of the little we're clutching in our hand, so that we can receive the armloads of benefits Lady Wisdom promises us.

This Lent, take the risk.  Let go, and believe She will come through for you.

Originally published in The Gift of the Lenten Journey, 2004, for the Church of Mary Magdalene.

Copyright © 2004 by Monica McDowell, MDiv.  All Rights Reserved.  This entry may be linked, forwarded, or copied in its entirety as long as this paragraph is included and there is no profit gained by doing so.  Monica is an energy healer, spiritual director, minister, and author of My Karma Ran Over My Dogma:  Lessons Learned by a Whistle-Blowing Minister Turned Mystic.  She has the distinction of being the first ordained minister in the United States ever granted civil rights in a federal ruling.  To schedule a mind/body/spirit energy healing session or for more information, check out her website at www.monicamcdowell.com or email her at monica@monicamcdowell.com