‘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
