While doing sermon prep this week, I came across an obscure quote from a book from the period between the end of the Old Testament and the birth of Jesus. The book of Sirach was written by a Jew who was watching his country struggle to remain distinctly Jewish while most of the world was adopting Greek philosophy and culture. The author was encouraging Jews to return to their culture and intellectual roots. The quote is simple: “The scribe’s wisdom increases wisdom; whoever is free from toil can become wise. How can one become learned who guides the plow, and thrills in wielding the goad like a lance, Who guides the ox and urges on the bullock, and whose every concern is for cattle?” He goes on to argue that you can’t study or grow if you have a regular job. After reflecting on it for several days, I have come to realization that Sirach is a little right and a little wrong. However, there is some interesting wisdom in the text.
I’ll start with why he is wrong. His idea is that in order to develop real spiritual depth and understanding, you have to spend all of your time on it. One of the things I have discovered working in Big Sandy for a decade is that folks who drive tractors, manage cattle, or maintain equipment have time to think and reflect in ways that are kind of rare in our society. Many of the neighbors I have interacted with have demonstrated brilliance that comes from spending time working. In addition, I have discovered that folks who do nothing but think or research are often out of touch with the real world. Hard work is a path to wisdom and depth of character.
However, Sirach is also right in a way and that is something that I think our culture needs to understand. We live in a world where entertainment, work, scheduled meetings, activities, and everything else are constantly filling our waking hours or demanding our attention. Even our idle moments are dominated by our phones and social media. Most people have fewer and fewer moments of silence to just reflect. What Sirach saw as the problem for people acquiring wisdom was essentially busyness and the noise of every day life. We don’t really have that in abundance. It is rare. How often do we just get to sit quiet and pray? How often do we say: I’m too tired or busy to read? When do we find time to look at our own lives and evaluate who we are becoming?
One of the keys to spiritual growth and personal depth is time to think, pray, and read. I talk to people often who lament that their lives often feel empty or unfulfilling. Depression and lack of direction are a product of keeping our every waking moment full of noise and busyness. It is one of the main reasons people are constantly tired and stressed out. We lack peace and quiet. The problem is that it is difficult to find any kind of quiet or peace in our hectic lives. There are some simple solutions. We can plan for quiet time. We can get up early and pray before the kids get up and the day kicks off. We can put our phone on “Do Not Disturb” and leave it in the other room for a few hours every day.
I don’t think Sirach envisioned a world where everyone would be so busy that wisdom produced by reflection and solitude would become one of the rarest of commodities. We can still find it however. The process begins with realizing its value and then planning for it.
