Wednesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time

 Lectionary: 451

Two things I ask of you,
deny them not to me before I die:
Put falsehood and lying far from me,
give me neither poverty nor riches;
provide me only with the food I need;
Lest, being full, I deny you,
saying, "Who is the LORD?"
Or, being in want, I steal,
and profane the name of my God.

Christians find the Gospel with references to Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Church, the Sacraments, Mary, and many others in all the books of the Old Testament. And we also find the wisdom and good sense that is common to our human nature and basic decency. 

The Book of Proverbs shows little of the apocalyptic anxiety and expectation which pervade the New Testament. It presents the Jewish and gentile wisdom of any and all nations. Some of its sayings might predate Abraham. The scholars who collected them listened to seaborne merchants from all parts of the Mediterranean basin, and to nomadic traders from all parts of Asia and Africa. Jerusalem was on the road to just about anywhere. There were also peripatetic wise men who wandered from capital to capital, looking to found schools where they might teach the young. 

Proverbs received the best sayings, adages, and proverbs that the world had to offer. Despite the rants and accusations of the Hebrew prophets, the Jewish religion believed in the essential goodness of these poor, bare, forked animals created in God's image. 

Put falsehood and lying far from me. 

Anyone of good sense would agree with today's first plea, whether it's addressed to God, one's neighbor, children, or spouse. Please, just tell me the truth as you understand it, simply and without exaggeration, spin, slant, or bias. It's impossible to make good choices with bad information. Nothing good can come of falsehood and lying. 

Granted that the truth can destroy even entrenched, systemic falsehoods that may be incorporated into the policies, laws, and infrastructure of our daily life, we're better off knowing the truth. We can take down the "whites only" signs when we recognize the basic dignity of every human being, regardless of the cost. While it's true that many of our children are profoundly confused by the mixed messages of a desperate, consumer economy, and that women have been ill served by a violent, power-hungry culture, they won't be better served by an ideology: "Put falsehood and lying far from me."

...give me neither poverty nor riches;
provide me only with the food I need;

We do well to recognize the contentment that many find in simplicity; and the anxiety, greed, and obsessive competitiveness which amasses great wealth. Winning isn't everything, nor is it the only thing, If winning causes rancor, resentment, and division among the parties, it's not worth it. No security accompanies inequity; it's chronically unstable and cries for justice. If the violence doesn't find you, it will find your children. Good sense knows that. 

That piece of wisdom would appreciate the more recent adage: "Hard times create strong persons; strong persons create good times; good times breed weak persons; and weak persons create hard times." 

Can we break the cycle by avoiding success, trusting others, and cultivating wisdom? It can be no worse than the mess we've made of our world.