The Value of Wisdom
Illustration
Stories
At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I should give you.” (v. 5)
Wishes are wonderful — and mostly imaginary. Those of us who remember back in the day when the arrival of the Sears catalog was a big deal may remember circling items as a sort of wish list. After all, who hasn’t at one time, or another wished their wish — or wishes — would come true? But of course, in any good story about wishes, there are limitations, a catch, or a twist. Remember. Wishes are tricky.
In the Disney movie, the character Alladin is told by the Genie he gets three wishes — but there are three limitations — Can’t kill anyone, can’t make people fall in love, and can’t bring anyone back from the dead.
In the last Harry Potter novel, Harry and Hermione read a wizarding children’s story called The Deathly Hallows. In it, three brothers cheat death. In return, death agrees to give each brother one wish. The first wishes for the most powerful wand that could defeat every other wand, but after he kills someone with it his overconfidence and carelessness leads to his own death, and another takes the wand. The second wishes for the ability to call back anyone from the dead, but when that brother calls back the woman he loves, it turns out she is sad about what he’s done. Soon both are dead. The third brother asks for a cloak of invisibility, which enables him to hide from death until he is ready to greet death as a friend.
In the classic folk tale The Three Wishes, a poor farmer and his wife lament their lives of poverty and think to themselves about how they would use a wish that came their way. A fairy appears and grants them three wishes, but cautions them to be very careful. They talk for a long time, husband and wife, about riches, a house, a family, all kinds of things, but they decide to sleep on it. When the wife wakes up the next morning as she stirs up the fire until it is blazing she discovers she’s so hungry she wishes she had a big bowl of dark pudding to eat. Poof! There it is. The husband walks in, realizes that she’s wasted a wish, and angrily wishes she was wearing that pudding on her nose. Poof! It happens.
Two wishes down the drain. The husband talks about perhaps they just ought to wish for great wealth and be done with it, but the wife points out she can’t enjoy great wealth with a pudding on her nose, so they wish for the pudding to fall off her face, and decide to be satisfied with what they have.
All these folk tales should make us properly nervous when God comes to Solomon in a dream and offers to give him anything he wants. You can’t help but feel it can go all wrong. It comes at a time when Solomon has ascended to the throne after his father’s difficult death and a good deal of jostling for the crown. And now God has offered him whatever he wants.
What should he ask for?
When kings take the throne, they sometimes sweep the field of their potential rivals and outright enemies. But Solomon refrains from asking for this. Nor does he ask for great wealth. Instead, he asks for wisdom,
God’s response? Ding. Ding. Ding. Winner. Winner. Chicken dinner. Right way to answer.
Solomon awakes, and seems to know that this is not an ordinary dream — in the night he has spoken with God.
By asking for wisdom, wisdom to help others, to rule with justice, he achieved all the things he might have with other wishes. No enemies. Unlimited wealth.
Wisdom, as anyone who has read through Proverbs, is common sense. It’s knowing how things work. It’s taking the long view, sacrificing in the short run so that benefits will accrue in the long run. It’s remaining true to the principles of our faith, and not taking on the ways of this world.
Wishes are wonderful — and mostly imaginary. Those of us who remember back in the day when the arrival of the Sears catalog was a big deal may remember circling items as a sort of wish list. After all, who hasn’t at one time, or another wished their wish — or wishes — would come true? But of course, in any good story about wishes, there are limitations, a catch, or a twist. Remember. Wishes are tricky.
In the Disney movie, the character Alladin is told by the Genie he gets three wishes — but there are three limitations — Can’t kill anyone, can’t make people fall in love, and can’t bring anyone back from the dead.
In the last Harry Potter novel, Harry and Hermione read a wizarding children’s story called The Deathly Hallows. In it, three brothers cheat death. In return, death agrees to give each brother one wish. The first wishes for the most powerful wand that could defeat every other wand, but after he kills someone with it his overconfidence and carelessness leads to his own death, and another takes the wand. The second wishes for the ability to call back anyone from the dead, but when that brother calls back the woman he loves, it turns out she is sad about what he’s done. Soon both are dead. The third brother asks for a cloak of invisibility, which enables him to hide from death until he is ready to greet death as a friend.
In the classic folk tale The Three Wishes, a poor farmer and his wife lament their lives of poverty and think to themselves about how they would use a wish that came their way. A fairy appears and grants them three wishes, but cautions them to be very careful. They talk for a long time, husband and wife, about riches, a house, a family, all kinds of things, but they decide to sleep on it. When the wife wakes up the next morning as she stirs up the fire until it is blazing she discovers she’s so hungry she wishes she had a big bowl of dark pudding to eat. Poof! There it is. The husband walks in, realizes that she’s wasted a wish, and angrily wishes she was wearing that pudding on her nose. Poof! It happens.
Two wishes down the drain. The husband talks about perhaps they just ought to wish for great wealth and be done with it, but the wife points out she can’t enjoy great wealth with a pudding on her nose, so they wish for the pudding to fall off her face, and decide to be satisfied with what they have.
All these folk tales should make us properly nervous when God comes to Solomon in a dream and offers to give him anything he wants. You can’t help but feel it can go all wrong. It comes at a time when Solomon has ascended to the throne after his father’s difficult death and a good deal of jostling for the crown. And now God has offered him whatever he wants.
What should he ask for?
When kings take the throne, they sometimes sweep the field of their potential rivals and outright enemies. But Solomon refrains from asking for this. Nor does he ask for great wealth. Instead, he asks for wisdom,
God’s response? Ding. Ding. Ding. Winner. Winner. Chicken dinner. Right way to answer.
Solomon awakes, and seems to know that this is not an ordinary dream — in the night he has spoken with God.
By asking for wisdom, wisdom to help others, to rule with justice, he achieved all the things he might have with other wishes. No enemies. Unlimited wealth.
Wisdom, as anyone who has read through Proverbs, is common sense. It’s knowing how things work. It’s taking the long view, sacrificing in the short run so that benefits will accrue in the long run. It’s remaining true to the principles of our faith, and not taking on the ways of this world.
