But where shall wisdom be found, and where is the place of understanding?—Job 28:12
When was the last time you received wisdom from an unlikely place? Was it a person, place, or thing? Was it something someone said, the vibe of a place visited on vacation, or a simple object that, despite being inert, spoke to you?
Wisdom can come the hard way, like the trials borne by Job in the Hebrew Bible. It can come serendipitously, like when you wander into a coffee shop and see all the patrons, wistfully, as a microcosm of your old neighborhood. It can come when you realize the rock in your hand is millions of years old and came from stardust, the very substance of which you and I are made. That the rock is a distant relative.
I once worked for a congregation where some members were homeless, including Jennifer, who lived a mile away from the church. Some Sundays I would see Jennifer ambling along the road toward the church, tote bag in hand, lurching, likely in need of a hip replacement (I’ve had two), but marching forward, eyes straight ahead, and I would pull over and pick her up.
One morning after Jennifer climbed into my car, we happened to stumble onto the subject of difficult people and how to deal with them. I confessed that even as a minister I hadn’t cracked the code.
Jennifer gazed out the passenger side window and said, quietly, “I love them from a distance.”
Bang. Jennifer taught me something that has become part of my Book of Life. The wisdom she shared feels particularly relevant right about now. I sometimes wonder where Jennifer is and if she’s okay, because I imagine she had encountered a lot of people she needed to love from a distance. I like to think I will see her again so I can thank her.
Where is the wisdom we seek, and where is the place of understanding? It’s wherever we are listening, and when what we heard becomes implanted in our heart, that’s how we know it has become wisdom, and our heart becomes the place. Sounds too simple, doesn’t it? Thanks to a car ride long ago, I have it on good authority that this is indeed the case.
Keeping difficult people at a distance is indeed wisdom.