Psalm 119: 49-72, Psalm 49, [53],
Gen. 37:25-36, 1 Cor. 2:1-13, Mark 1:29-45
1
Hear this, all you peoples; give ear, all inhabitants of the world, 2 both low and high, rich and
poor together. 3
My mouth shall speak wisdom; the meditation of my heart shall be
understanding. 4
I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will solve my riddle to the music of
the harp. . .
12Mortals cannot abide in their
pomp; they are like the animals that perish. - Psalm 49
I’ve never been a fan of pomp. But I do like
puzzles, proverbs and psalms. I love the confidence of the Psalmist at
the opening of Psalm 49, this proclamation, all commands and future tenses,
“Hear this… give ear... My mouth shall speak wisdom…” (I’d like to try and
start all my work email correspondence that way!) But what is the Psalmist declaiming?
Actually, declaiming would by definition be pompous. So what is the Psalmist
trying to teach us, inviting us to
hear? What does it mean to solve one’s riddle to the music of the harp?
And why does the Psalmist circle back to this refrain in the form of a harsh
warning: “Mortals cannot abide in their pomp; they are like the animals that
perish”? Can you hear me now?
Signing on to write a meditation for the St.
Francis blog is always a blessing and a challenge: I welcome the opportunity to
“incline my ear to a proverb”… or psalm or Gospel, but I'm not always sure how
to “solve my riddle.” (Maybe I need a
harp?) We read and search for insights, connections, threads. And sometimes I find myself drawn to a
section of a reading but unsure of what to make of all of it. I guess the main thread I'm following is how
to access spiritual wisdom. Both Psalm
49 and Paul’s letter to the Corinthians speak to the power of meditation and the
insufficiency of words. The Psalmist in
Psalm 49 is clearly reminding listeners of their mortality, especially the rich
(read selfish and pompous in this context) who mindlessly, greedily hoard their
worldly goods and all for naught as they’ll just die like animals anyway. (Yes,
I know I said earlier how I like proverbs, riddles and psalms but I have
trouble sometimes with the strong retribution vibe, of reckoning or evening the
score in the Psalms. Woe to them, they’ll
get theirs and all that.) So I remain
poised, inclining my ear to this song, reflecting on what and where our
“treasure” is actually, but put off by how
much time is spent in the Psalm reassuring readers that the rich who are greedy
will get theirs. To me the season of
Lent isn’t about judging others and gloating when the “wicked” get punished,
but more of a call to turn inward. I
remember Rich writing a few years back about how Lent was the time to reflect,
see the log in our own eye and not just the speck in our brother’s (Mathew 7:3). So I guess I have to cast myself in this
Psalm as someone is off course and needs reminding to turn toward God and
remember where my treasure is. I have to own it … and let it go, as Randy has
said elsewhere.
I have been trying to gear myself up for Lent to
reflect and be intentional, for myself, my family and in my community/ies to
take the time to reconnect with what matters so that “meditation[s ] of my
heart shall be understanding” as the Psalmist promises. I’m (still) searching
for spiritual wisdom, still searching
for the words and praying that I, that we all have the spirit from God to
become more spiritual, spirit filled,
less preoccupied by consumer culture and the heavy burdens that Randy
has described. We hope to be more liberated and focused on what truly matters
during Lent. It always is a leap of
faith to imagine oneself able to speak of spiritual things in words taught by
the spirit. That’s another riddle I’m
“inclining my ear to” at the close of Paul’s letter, these “words not taught by
human wisdom but taught by the Spirit.”
For
what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is
within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of
God.
12Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but
the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us
by God. 13And we speak of these things in words not taught by
human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those
who are spiritual.*
1 Cor. 2:1-13
-Kathleen Suchenski
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