Owning your truth
Proverbs 8: 1-4, 22-31
New Ark United Church of Christ, Newark, DE
June 16, 2019 – Trinity Sunday
Here’s some of the worst wisdom some of my friends have ever received:
You can do it all.
That dog doesn’t bite.
You can’t ever turn your back on your blood.
Keep searching for happiness.
If you can’t finish today, there is always tomorrow.
It tastes like chicken.
That electric fence doesn’t sting that bad.
The worst wisdom in regard to writing sermons: three points and a joke.
God doesn’t give you anything you can’t handle.
Don’t burn bridges (because sometimes you really should).
Failing makes you a failure.
Everything happens for a reason.
Do it my way.
We’ve always done it that way.
Search your heart for why you are attracting this misfortune into your life; it must be some lesson you've refused to learn in the past.
Clergy should not wear dangly earrings or skirts above the knee.
Just tolerate whatever crap your boss dishes out.
You need to change your priorities.
Always let the boy win.
Men don’t like smart women.
Don’t show off.
Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?
Achievement or acquiring or making money is the most important thing.
Don’t wear purple; only lesbians wear purple.
One friend said “follow your dreams” was both the worst and the best advice she ever received.
Here’s some of the greatest wisdom some of my friends have ever received:
Sunlight purifies everything.
Just because you can say something doesn’t mean you should.
People who love will build others up. Always surround yourself with builders and BE a builder. Never apologize for being who you are!
Begin within.
Don’t sweat the small stuff.
Don’t borrow trouble—there’s plenty to be had for free.
The best wisdom in regard to writing sermons: always pray before even starting and then pray throughout.
No one ever says I want to be an addict when I grow up.
Don’t should on yourself.
Always maintain your own bank account. You never know when you’ll need to get out.
Good things come in little packages. Don’t worry about tomorrow. You get what you pay for.
God doesn’t call the equipped. God equips the called.
Err on the side of grace.
Take a breath.
Don’t take anything personally. What others say to you is a projection of their own reality.
Don’t put on your tie before you brush your teeth.
Wisdom can come from anywhere.
You can only be responsible for your actions and reactions.
There are two rules in life: 1. Never give out all of the information. 2.
We are all climbing a mountain. Each of us is taking a different path up that mountain, but when we get to the top we are all looking at the same sky.
Don’t be afraid of mistakes.
Consider the source.
Always question authority.
Find your path and follow it.
Babies teach us that we cannot control everything.
Only you can make you happy.
Practice self-love.
Never borrow anything you can’t afford to replace.
We judge ourselves by our intentions; others judge us by our actions.
We are all in the same boat, doing our best not to fall over the edge while in rough waters.
Act with love and you’ll never go wrong.
Be a force of good.
Don’t believe everything you think.
Don’t take yourself too seriously.
Only emotion endures.
Laughter is the best medicine.
Celebrate anything you can.
It’s all for joy!
All of our wisdom comes from experience, relationships, from being in a body, in community. It would be wonderful if we could sit on a mountain or under a tree or by an ocean or river and come to the wise way of living all on our own. Usually wisdom comes to us by the fires of living, in the crucible of connection, and it shapes our worldview, how we interpret events and situations, our emotional reactions, how we connect with others, with the earth itself.
In the reading from Proverbs, Wisdom has been with us from the very beginning. Before anything else came into being, Wisdom was there. In the apocryphal book the Wisdom of Solomon, we read that Wisdom, the artisan of all, teaches us the sound knowledge of all that exists, delighting in all of creation.
“Cycles of years, positions of stars,
natures of living things, tempers of beasts,
Powers of the winds and thoughts of human beings,
uses of plants and virtues of roots—
Whatever is hidden or plain I learned,
for Wisdom, the artisan of all, taught me.”
Some scholars and others who play with metaphor claim Wisdom as the third person of the Trinity. And even though we won’t find the word “trinity” in the Bible, we human beings have this fascination with the number 3 and we create human constructs with it. Id, ego, and superego. Blood, sweat, and tears. Past, present, and future. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Mind, body, and spirit.
Some describe the Trinity as a faith lived in three dimensions. The Christian creeds may have begun with Father, Son and Holy Spirit but what of Mother, Sibling, and Advocate? Maker, Guide, and Wisdom. Universe, Incarnation, and Energy. Aggravation, Restoration, Imagination. Source, Word, Breath. Giver, Giving, Gift. Music, Singer, Song. Lover, Beloved, Love.
The Trinity is a call into wholeness, community, relationship, experience, an invitation to be in our bodies, our flesh, our lives, as deeply and as honestly as we can. And yet we can only come to our truth. Even then we can’t claim our truth as the truth, only what we know in part. And so it behooves us to listen to the truth of others and how they arrived there, to trust that they are telling the truth about themselves as they know it. The truth that they are transgender, they are non-binary, they are invisible, not safe; they are devalued because of their gender, sexuality, their religion, their disability, their ethnicity, the color of their skin; they are fleeing for their lives, they are dehumanized, they are in pain, they need our help; the truth that they are beautiful, they are beloved, there is no one else like them.
In 12 step programs the common wisdom is “Take what you like and leave the rest”, because that’s the way we learn. The rest, what we often don’t like, will be there waiting for us, like “love your neighbor as yourself”, “love your enemies and forgive them”, “forgive seven times seventy”, “take up your cross and follow me”, because invariably we find that even though Wisdom has a wide welcome, it is also the narrow path. Because that’s how we grow.
Thanks be to the Ground of All Being, the Bread of Life, and the Breath of Love, for wisdom learned and wisdom shared. AMEN.
Benediction – enfleshed.com
Divine Wisdom is calling!
Not only from within this space
but from the streets,
and the borders and the margins,
and through all children,
and through all flesh.
And so let us go from here
New Ark United Church of Christ, Newark, DE
June 16, 2019 – Trinity Sunday
 |
| Divine Wisdom by Shiloh Sophia McCloud |
Here’s some of the worst wisdom some of my friends have ever received:
You can do it all.
That dog doesn’t bite.
You can’t ever turn your back on your blood.
Keep searching for happiness.
If you can’t finish today, there is always tomorrow.
It tastes like chicken.
That electric fence doesn’t sting that bad.
The worst wisdom in regard to writing sermons: three points and a joke.
God doesn’t give you anything you can’t handle.
Don’t burn bridges (because sometimes you really should).
Failing makes you a failure.
Everything happens for a reason.
Do it my way.
We’ve always done it that way.
Search your heart for why you are attracting this misfortune into your life; it must be some lesson you've refused to learn in the past.
Clergy should not wear dangly earrings or skirts above the knee.
Just tolerate whatever crap your boss dishes out.
You need to change your priorities.
Always let the boy win.
Men don’t like smart women.
Don’t show off.
Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?
Achievement or acquiring or making money is the most important thing.
Don’t wear purple; only lesbians wear purple.
One friend said “follow your dreams” was both the worst and the best advice she ever received.
Here’s some of the greatest wisdom some of my friends have ever received:
Sunlight purifies everything.
Just because you can say something doesn’t mean you should.
People who love will build others up. Always surround yourself with builders and BE a builder. Never apologize for being who you are!
Begin within.
Don’t sweat the small stuff.
Don’t borrow trouble—there’s plenty to be had for free.
The best wisdom in regard to writing sermons: always pray before even starting and then pray throughout.
No one ever says I want to be an addict when I grow up.
Don’t should on yourself.
Always maintain your own bank account. You never know when you’ll need to get out.
Good things come in little packages. Don’t worry about tomorrow. You get what you pay for.
God doesn’t call the equipped. God equips the called.
Err on the side of grace.
Take a breath.
Don’t take anything personally. What others say to you is a projection of their own reality.
Don’t put on your tie before you brush your teeth.
Wisdom can come from anywhere.
You can only be responsible for your actions and reactions.
There are two rules in life: 1. Never give out all of the information. 2.
We are all climbing a mountain. Each of us is taking a different path up that mountain, but when we get to the top we are all looking at the same sky.
Don’t be afraid of mistakes.
Consider the source.
Always question authority.
Find your path and follow it.
Babies teach us that we cannot control everything.
Only you can make you happy.
Practice self-love.
Never borrow anything you can’t afford to replace.
We judge ourselves by our intentions; others judge us by our actions.
We are all in the same boat, doing our best not to fall over the edge while in rough waters.
Act with love and you’ll never go wrong.
Be a force of good.
Don’t believe everything you think.
Don’t take yourself too seriously.
Only emotion endures.
Laughter is the best medicine.
Celebrate anything you can.
It’s all for joy!
Each list feels different from the other, doesn’t it? It seems to me that advice is something you give whether someone needs it or not, whereas wisdom is something you’ve come to through experience and in a gesture of empathy and self-gift, wisdom is shared as “here is what helped me—maybe it can help you”.
All of our wisdom comes from experience, relationships, from being in a body, in community. It would be wonderful if we could sit on a mountain or under a tree or by an ocean or river and come to the wise way of living all on our own. Usually wisdom comes to us by the fires of living, in the crucible of connection, and it shapes our worldview, how we interpret events and situations, our emotional reactions, how we connect with others, with the earth itself.
“Cycles of years, positions of stars,
natures of living things, tempers of beasts,
Powers of the winds and thoughts of human beings,
uses of plants and virtues of roots—
Whatever is hidden or plain I learned,
for Wisdom, the artisan of all, taught me.”
Some scholars and others who play with metaphor claim Wisdom as the third person of the Trinity. And even though we won’t find the word “trinity” in the Bible, we human beings have this fascination with the number 3 and we create human constructs with it. Id, ego, and superego. Blood, sweat, and tears. Past, present, and future. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Mind, body, and spirit.
Some describe the Trinity as a faith lived in three dimensions. The Christian creeds may have begun with Father, Son and Holy Spirit but what of Mother, Sibling, and Advocate? Maker, Guide, and Wisdom. Universe, Incarnation, and Energy. Aggravation, Restoration, Imagination. Source, Word, Breath. Giver, Giving, Gift. Music, Singer, Song. Lover, Beloved, Love.
In 12 step programs the common wisdom is “Take what you like and leave the rest”, because that’s the way we learn. The rest, what we often don’t like, will be there waiting for us, like “love your neighbor as yourself”, “love your enemies and forgive them”, “forgive seven times seventy”, “take up your cross and follow me”, because invariably we find that even though Wisdom has a wide welcome, it is also the narrow path. Because that’s how we grow.
Thanks be to the Ground of All Being, the Bread of Life, and the Breath of Love, for wisdom learned and wisdom shared. AMEN.
Benediction – enfleshed.com
Divine Wisdom is calling!
Not only from within this space
but from the streets,
and the borders and the margins,
and through all children,
and through all flesh.
And so let us go from here
with ears and eyes and hearts wide open,
opening ourselves to the delight
opening ourselves to the delight
and the challenge of our Creator.
May it be so.
May it be so.
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