A Tale of Two Wisdoms

I was reminded today of Charles Dickens and his book ‘A Tale of Two Cities,’ his stories I really did enjoy. I recall reading that many of his writings were released in serial form in newspapers and magazines. In his day, travel was by ship, long and arduous, and those in far flung places would have to sit in anticipation for weeks or months for the next episode. Maybe this was a prelude to the many cliffhangers that we experienced on TV in recent times when we had to wait a full week to see if the hero survived.

A Tale of Two Cities was a story set on the backdrop of the chaos and brutality of the French Revolution. But ultimately it was contrasted with the idea of the transformative power of love, a self-sacrificial love, the idea of redemption and of hope. There is something here that resonates so deeply with the grand narrative of scripture. A divine plot that I hope entices the world to be curious  about an eternal hope that sits amongst the backdrop of what seems to be our self-obsessed society.

We continue this week with the end of Chapter 3 in James, verses 13-18 where James speaks of two kinds of Wisdom. A Wisdom that comes from heaven, and a wisdom that comes from the world. A Wisdom that is pure, peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere, and a wisdom that is chaotic, brutal, disordered and ultimately evil. It always seems difficult for us to speak about ‘evil’ today, especially in a society where we are so obsessed with ourselves, and I suppose this is why James highlights the connection between wisdom and humility. We’ll explore James’ Tale of Two Wisdoms during our service this Sunday.

May the Spirit bless us with open hearts and minds to receive the Wisdom that comes from heaven.

Josh