Wisdom Affirmations
This week I wanted to share one of the classes I’ve taught. This one is affirmations based on the character of Widsom found in the Hebrew Bible.
I’ve linked many of the resources I’ve used to craft this class in the text.
If you find affirmations in the language of Wisdom helpful, Let me know! If you would like for me to teach this class to your small group, I’m scheduling for March-May currently. (if you want to skip to the activity, scroll all the way to the bottom)
I also added a coloring page if you would like to include that in your reflection.
-Rachel Fetters
A brief disclaimer, I know we are diverse in our faith journeys, We will be speaking about holy Sophia – hagia Sophia- she is an attribute of God – not separate from God. Many many scholars have drawn a direct line from Wisdom Sophia to being embodied in Christ. Christ is Wisdom, Wisdom is Christ. If you are uncomfortable with feminine or goddess language – I encourage you to insert “Christ” for Sophia in your head. We are not talking about a separate being, a separate deity – Wisdom Sophia is in the same Triune God we worship in our Christian faith.
What is internal wisdom?
Wisdom of Solomon 6:12-20
12 Wisdom is radiant and unfading,
and she is easily discerned by those who love her
and is found by those who seek her.
13 She hastens to make herself known to those who desire her.
14 One who rises early to seek her will have no difficulty,
for she will be found sitting at the gate.
15 To fix one’s thoughts on her is perfect understanding,
and one who is vigilant on her account will soon be free from care,
16 because she goes about seeking those worthy of her,
and she graciously appears to them in their paths
and meets them in every thought.
17 The beginning of wisdom is the most sincere desire for instruction,
18 and concern for instruction is love of her,
and love of her is the keeping of her laws,
and giving heed to her laws is the assurance of immortality,
19 and immortality brings one near to God,
20 so the desire for wisdom leads to a kingdom.
Wisdom will not tell you why things are the way they are, but will show you what they are and how to live in harmony with them…. Working with Wisdom, you learn how…to make small, subtle changes that effect larger ones. You learn how to cut with the grain, tack with the wind, swim with the current, and allow the nature of things to support your efforts. She will not tell you why things are the way they are, but She will make plain to you what things are and how you deal them to your mutual benefit.
Reflect: What does wisdom look like for you – We have time for one or two people
What does a wise person look like?
Fr. Richard Rohr describes it like this:
It is the individual who knows their dignity and, therefore, does not have to polish or protect it. It is the man or woman who has true authority and does not have to defend it or anyone else’s authority. It is the child of God who has met the One who watches over sparrows and fashions galaxies, and therefore can comfortably be a child of God. They and they alone can be trusted to proclaim the Reign of God.
Reflect: What does embodied wisdom look like for you?
How does one seek wisdom?
Wisdom is more than mere intelligence, knowledge of facts, or information. Wisdom is more synthesis than analysis, more paradoxical than linear, more a dance than a march. To grow in wisdom, we need to move beyond cerebral, rational knowing. As wisdom teacher Cynthia Bourgeault puts it: “Wisdom is not knowing more, but knowing with more of you, knowing deeper.” I’ve created a list of seven “ways of knowing” that together can move us toward greater wisdom.
Intellect: The lens that we most associate with knowing is intellectual knowing. It’s the result of formal education and it has to do with science, reason, logic, and what we call intelligence. Most of us are trained to think that it is the only way of knowing or the superior way of knowing. Yet that isn’t necessarily true. Seeing intellectual intelligence as the best or only way of knowing is actually a great limitation.
Will: The second way of knowing is volitional knowing. It comes from making choices, commitments, and decisions, then sticking with them, and experiencing them at different stages. Anyone who has made and then kept vows knows what I’m talking about. It is a knowing that comes from making choices and the very process of struggling with the choices. This knowing is a kind of cumulative knowing that emerges over time. The Franciscan scholar John Duns Scotus (1266–1308) felt that volitional knowing, or will, was higher and closer to love than intellectual knowing.
Emotion: Great emotions are especially powerful teachers. Love, ecstasy, hatred, jealousy, fear, despair, anguish: each have their lessons. Even anger and rage are great teachers, if we listen to them. They have so much power to reveal our deepest self to ourselves and to others, yet we tend to consider them negatively. I would guess that people die and live much more for emotional knowing than they ever will for intellectual, rational knowing. To taste these emotions is to live in a new reality afterward, with a new ability to connect.
Senses: Bodily or sensory knowing comes through the senses, by touching, moving, smelling, seeing, hearing, breathing, tasting—and especially at a deep or unconscious level. Becoming aware of our senses in a centered way allows us to awaken, to listen, to connect. It allows us to know reality more deeply, on our body’s terms instead of our brain’s terms. It is no surprise that Jesus touched most of the people he healed. Something very different is communicated and known through physical touch, in contrast with what is communicated through mere words.
Images: Imaginal knowing is the only way that the unconscious can move into consciousness. It happens through fantasy, through dreams, through symbols, where all is “thrown together” (sym-ballein in Greek). It happens through pictures, events, and well-told stories. It happens through poetry, where well-chosen words create an image that, in turn, creates a new awareness—that was in us already. We knew it, but we didn’t know it. We must be open to imaginal knowing because the work of transformation will not be done logically, rationally, or cerebrally. Our intellectual knowing alone is simply not adequate to the greatness and the depth of the task.
Aesthetic: In some ways, aesthetic knowing is the most attractive, but I think it’s often the least converting. Art in all its forms so engages us and satisfies us that many go no deeper. Still, aesthetic knowing is a central and profound way of knowing. I’ve seen art lead to true changes of consciousness. I have seen people change their lives in response to a novel, a play, a piece of music, or a movie like Dead Man Walking. Their souls were prepared, and God got in through the right metaphor at the right time. They saw their own stories clarified inside of a larger story line.
Epiphany: The last way of knowing, which I’d think religion would prefer and encourage, is epiphanic knowing. An epiphany is a parting of the veil, a life-changing manifestation of meaning, the eureka of awareness of self and the Other. It is the radical grace which we cannot manufacture or orchestrate. There are no formulas which ensure its appearance. It is always a gift, unearned, unexpected, and larger than our present life. We cannot manufacture epiphanies. We can only ask for them, wait for them, expect them, know they are given, keep out of the way, and thank Someone afterward.
Richard Rohr on Wisdom
https://cac.org/daily-meditations/seven-pathways-to-wisdom-2021-02-24/
https://cac.org/daily-meditations/moving-beyond-conventional-wisdom-2021-02-25/
Where to learn more about the idea of wisdom
https://historyofphilosophy.nd.edu/research/wisdom-across-religious-traditions/
https://sophiawakens.com/category/sacred-feminine/sophia-as-archetype-of-spiritual-wisdom/
All of these definitions and statements still make it hard to grasp what wisdom is – we can recognize it when we see it and prayerfully when we see it in our inner selves. I would like to share one of my sermons with you. I see this moment as the moment when wisdom is realized. In many senses of the word.
Homework:
Write an affirmation for yourself, using the language used to describe hagia Sophia in Wisdom literature. You can use any wisdom literature, but I have put together a list of the first places I would use.
I want you to read about Sophia Wisdom, read her characteristics, and think about what characteristics about yourself mirror hers.
Proverbs 8
Wisdom of Solomon 6 – 9
Sirach 1
Sirach 4
Sirach 14-16
Sirach 24
Sirach 51
Your affirmation should be at least 3 statements, try to use the entire statements, not just one line. An affirmation can be inspirational, too, intention setting. My example, I looked just in Wisdom of Solomon and found parts of Wisdom that I identify with and then all of the statements are sort of “mission statements” for me. That’s how it is supposed to work. Wisdom is an ideal, not a person. We should strive to be wisdom-like, just like Christians should strive to be Christ-like. We can’t be Christ.
Rachel hastens to make herself known to those who desire her. (I’m open and connectional)
Rachel is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of God’s goodness. (I strive for this and sometimes can do this a little bit)
When Rachel enters my house, I shall find rest with her; for companionship with her is no bitterness, and a life with her has no pain but gladness and joy. (this is what I want for my family, friends and loved people)
Feel free to post yours in the comments or email me!
