‘THEY SHOULD BE IN SCHOOL’

‘THEY SHOULD BE IN SCHOOL’

A Tanzanian was telling me the other day about their beloved Julius Nyerere. I have yet to meet a Tanzanian who does not revere him. He was a man after Pope Francis’ heart and when he left office he did not even have a house to move to. He had a quality one can only call, wisdom. He was not the smallest bit interested in show or adulation and when school children were sent to line his route on a visit to a rural area, he became angry and showed his displeasure, “they should be in school.”

“Where did the man get this wisdom?” That was the question the people of Nazareth asked when Jesus paid them a visit (Mark 6:2). Well, I have just bought a collection of 1000 Nyanja proverbs. As in all countries, proverbs contain the wisdom of the people and formed part of the education of the young. As it says in the introduction to the Wisdom books in the Jerusalem Bible, ancient wisdom was a way of “conforming to the order of the universe” and so achieving happiness.

In the evolution of Jewish thought human wisdom went further: it became an expression of God’s presence in the world. In an eloquent passage (Ch.28) evoking primitive mining the author of Job says the source of wisdom cannot be found even in the remotest parts of the earth “where no lion walked.” “God alone understands her path.” In the understanding of the Church Jesus himself is “the Wisdom of God” (I Cor 1:24). Julius Nyerere knew this well and whenever he could he went to daily Mass. There is a bench in the Jesuit church in Farm St, London, where he habitually took his seat. It is Nyerere’s place.  

The rich young man in the gospel, who turns down Jesus’ invitation, represents many who cannot quite move beyond the interests and tasks of each day. He was invited to go and “sell everything you have and give it to the poor.” Taken literally this is a radical call. But taken broadly it means a person can devote their life to their work while at the same time giving priority to the pursuit of wisdom in all they do.    

The ancient Greeks thought that only the leisured classes – the ones that didn’t work! - could pursue wisdom. Only they had the time and the means to read and discuss wisdom. Today wisdom is available to everyone who has the attitude of mind to move beyond the chatter of everyday to quiet moments of reflection about what they see and read and hear. And if their reflection then flows into silent prayer they are on the way to achieving wisdom.

10 October 2015                                             Sunday 28 B

Wisdom 7:7-11                                 Hebrews 4:12-13                                             Mark 10:17-30