O Sapientia
O Wisdom, Which camest forth out of the mouth of the Most High,
and reachest from one end to the other,
mightily and sweetly ordering all things;
Come and teach us the way of prudence.
According to one rabbinic tradition, as soon as he saw the calf, Moses realized the Israelites were too busy looking for symbols instead of wisdom—such that the Two Tablets had become an idol, too. The most important thing about the Ten Commandments, the story seems to teach, is to forget what they look like and listen carefully to what they say.
“It is deeply offensive to me and millions of working Americans across this country for any Senator to suggest that working through the Christmas holiday is somehow ‘sacrilegious’ or ‘disrespectful.’”
The Catholic Bishop of Phoenix, Arizona, is threatening to remove the Catholic affiliation of Phoenix’s St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center this Friday in a dispute over the hospital’s actions to save the life of a pregnant woman earlier this year. St. Joseph’s on its website stated they “We believe that all life is sacred. In this case we saved the only life we could save, which was the mother’s.”
In a newspaper investigation of over 5,000 Christmas cards at leading supermarkets in England and Wales, only 45 had a religious theme. The Daily Mail’s investigation labelled Morrisons the worst offender. Out of 973 cards surveyed at the chain, only six had a religious theme.
When zero takes the plural (as in, zero calls) it’s grammatically correct for Pat Robertson’s CBN uses the headline “Calls Rise to Probe Capitol Hill Muslim Prayer Session” when Robertson’s American Center for Law and Justice issues the only call. Did we mention Jordan Sekulow, the ACLJ’s Director of International Operations, is a contributor to the Washington Post’s On Faith blog?
As I prepared for the November vestry meeting, I spent some time reflecting on the three vows that monks take, the vows of “Obedience”, “Stability” and “Conversatio” or “conversion of heart.” Unpacking these ideas has been helpful to me – and was helpful to the vestry, meeting about the budget in November. So I thought I’d share some thoughts about them here.
Someone asked me recently: what is it that haunts you? I said, “I can tell you exactly; it is the sense of time slipping through my fingers like fine sand. And there is nothing I can do to slow it.” One of the Psalms prays: “O Lord, help me to see the shortness of life that I may gain wisdom of heart.”
When the applause died down and the lights went up, I sat in my seat at the center of the front row spellbound by the performance of Judith I had just seen. I’d heard her anxiety, her prayers, and her courage. I’d heard the words of the dying Holofernes. But how? The biblical text doesn’t record them. So what was it I’d heard?
Owing to hard times which prevailed during the greater part of the past year among several of the tribes, it was impossible to visit them as usual; and much had to be left undone that might otherwise have been attempted. But I hope that the Christian leaders were enabled to supply this want in some degree.