What our Jewish siblings call the Writings (or Ketuvim) are examples of “wisdom literature.” They are the third and final section of the Tanakh (the Jewish scriptures, or what many Christians call the Old Testament). These selections are found after the Torah (“instruction”; the five Books of Moses, also called the Pentateuch) and Nevi’im (the “prophets”). How does this journey to wisdom start? Proverbs tells us, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.”
No, we aren’t supposed to run away from God like Adam and Eve after sinning in the Garden of Eden. We are supposed to seek after God. We experience a holy fear as we encounter the one true God, and we come to understand our vulnerability and reliance in something greater than ourselves. We tremble before God’s greatness, because we discover we are not God, nor even masters of our destiny. In fact, on our own, we are worthy of condemnation. To think otherwise is vanity. Yet, we turn to God humbly, because we discover that God is only love, and we know we need God’s grace and salvation. We also know through Jesus and the tug of the Holy Spirit, God desires to save us, not destroy.
A favorite Christian musician and Bible scholar of mine back in the 1990s was a man named Michael Card. He used his love of scripture to ponder God’s greatness through music. He created a three CD work contemplating the Torah, The Prophets, and the Writings. In his reflection song on Proverbs, he reframes this fear with these words, “The Way of Wisdom beckons us; To find the end of fear that perfect love pursues; Wisdom did not come to simply speak the words of truth; He’s the Word that makes us true.” In other words, our holy fear leads us eventually to our grace-filled salvation found only in Jesus. Jesus’ love has the power to transform us.
The path of wisdom leads us from fear toward a perfect love, one that wishes to help and embrace us. Indeed, Wisdom in the Writings is often personified as a welcoming woman. It is much as the Jewish faith has often contemplated and represented God’s Spirit in female imagery in art and other poetry. As Jesus describes God’s love as a Mother Hen, Proverbs tells us that Wisdom beckons us home in our weakness and need. It invites us to knock at the door and seek as Jesus did saying, “I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.”
So how do we seek? The way of Wisdom calls us to live a life in community where forgiveness is offered, where support is shared, where we meet Christ in one another as well as the Word and Sacraments. The original wisdom works were based on observations and experiences rather than visons and dreams – people found God at work in real life and reflected upon it.
Through their lives, poetry, and sayings preserved in scripture, we learn that our seeking is not just a Sunday adventure or a diversion to our week. It cannot be fully explored alone. We seek to listen for Wisdom daily as we interact with the world. For, God is there. We uncover our true place is among God’s chosen people, and we see that God is at work around us. Even in small acts of love or kindness to our neighbor, we might spot Wisdom.
It is only through such Wisdom that we find our true significance. As we are promised, whoever finds Lady Wisdom, finds true life. I think it comforting that the source of such Wisdom, the Holy Spirit (by the way, spirit is a feminine word in ancient Hebrew), is already seeking and reaching out to us. Perhaps, we should stop, look, and listen for her during our busy days or on days when we feel overwhelmed or afraid. She’ll be there waiting to not just teach us, but embrace us, as our Triune God’s children.
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations for this post are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) translation.
Originally published in the July 18, 2023 weekly newsletter, the Hub, of Christ Lutheran Church, Fredericksburg, VA, this post was edited and expanded upon for my blog.
© 2025 The Rev. Louis Florio. All content not held under another’s copyright may not be used without permission of the author.
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