Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong. For who is able to govern this vast people of yours?"
By today’s standards of government and nations, the united kingdoms of Israel and Judah were laughably small. Even at the time, Egypt and Assyria were much larger, ruling far more people and greater tracts of land, with bigger economies, larger armies, and more cultural influence on their neighbors.
But Solomon prayed wisely as he asked for the gift of wisdom; he had been given responsibility not only for the land and people but also for the nation that must remember Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob forever, not to mention the Law of Moses, and God’s promise to King David. He and his people must announce the Kingdom of God to the entire world.
Was he thinking of that when he prayed? Probably not. Did it ever occur to him when his reputation for wisdom became an international phenomenon? Perhaps, but neither he nor his administration nor his heirs seemed inspired by the promise God had made to Abraham,
“I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the families of the earth will find blessing in you.”
If Solomon was not thinking of the promise, it remained nonetheless in their national memory, in their stories, and in the mind of God, whose Word endures forever, who does not forget his promises.
And so Solomon governed as best he could, with limited insight; and there is plenty of evidence in the Bible that he and his government were as inefficient, wasteful, and corrupt as most governments. He wasn’t cold in his grave before the two nations split and were never reunited. Israel disappeared in the seventh century BC, and Judah in the sixth; and only the dream of a united nation, like the dream of Camelot, survived….
Until, many centuries later, in Galilee, a backwater of the Roman Empire, far from the halls of power and the schools of wisdom, a child was born of a virgin. The infant born to the House of David was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger.
Eight days later, Mary and Joseph would name their child Jesus, as the Angel had told them. “He would be great and would be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God would give him the throne of David his father, and he would rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there would be no end.”
We believe that Jesus is the answer to Solomon’s prayer; he is the Wisdom of God made flesh, that is, the incarnate Word. He is the wisdom and knowledge of God given to the Church for all ages, and presented to all nations as the most perfect way to know God. Jesus, the man who is God, provides the ideal and the model for the most perfect way to govern billions of people, vast tracts of land, international corporations, complicated economies, medical and educational institutions, and communications of every sort, including the Internet, social media, and Artificial Intelligence. This descendant of King Solomon is the Lord of All.
If that sounds like more than anyone or any religion should expect, read the Holy Father’s recent encyclical in which he reminds every nation and every institution that their policies, to be successful, must begin with a profound respect for human dignity and the human person – precisely because truth has become a human being. Machines and technology and systems should serve that Man, and all human beings, and the only planet we call home.
We were not created in the image and likeness of God to be slaves of any pharaoh. king, president, or dictator. We do not give our lives to any philosophy, idea, or ideology; much less to a computing machine, no matter how clever. Knowledge, wisdom, and intelligence – both artificial and real – serve the human being who is called to serve God; and not the other way around. Nor are men, women, children, the dying, or the unborn created as commodities to be exploited, bought or sold according to anyone’s plan, system, or scheme. If we fail to honor and respect one another, we should expect catastrophes, and we have seen too many already.
As human beings on this dangerous, dynamic planet, we are created to husband and care for the earth. If we fear nature it is a holy fear which remembers that God has given us dominion over the earth, and that is not the authority to abuse, exploit, or enslave. It is rather to cultivate and care. All industries – and not just our farms – must “cultivate and care for the earth.” Human dignity will not let us forget that the Earth is a gift from God.
If we find ways to put human beings on the Moon or Mars, that too should help care for the Earth. This is where we belong and will always be. Each day, and many times a day, we pray, “Thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven,” which means that God cares for the sun, moon, and stars of heaven. We have our hands full caring for the Earth which gives birth to us and witnesses our death.
We should pray daily that Solomon’s petition might be answered; that rulers, governors, and caretakers of this world receive his Spirit of Wisdom; and hear Pope Leo’s insistence that the Image of God is and will always be incredibly, incomprehensibly magnificent.
In today’s Gospel, the Lord reminds us that, “"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
The Wisdom of God – that is, the Word of God – is a priceless, hidden treasure; it costs everything we have and far more than we can afford. But we cannot afford not to invest everything we have in it. We have seen enough of wars, injustice, violence, the exploitation of people, and waste of the earth. Like Solomon, we must turn to God daily, and many times a day, praying that He will give us, “an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong.”
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.