I am often grateful for the education I have been privileged to receive. I went much further in school than I ever thought I would. Neither of my parents were college people, so simply going to college charted new territory for my family. Obviously, there are many, many first-generation college students---even in our own day. And that is a good thing.
Perhaps I was a little unusual in that I did not go to college to get a career. I thought I probably would return to the farm and make my living that way. But I also realized making a living and making a life were not the same thing. Making a living has to do with earning enough money to be able to pay the bills and afford a family, assuming that would come along. But making a life is related to meaning and purpose. It is easy to make a living and living a meaningless life. That is sad. I did not want to be sad like that, so off to college I went.
I wanted to study religion so I could figure out how to make sense of life. I grew up a Quaker, but thought high school had not really “owned it” as my way of understanding life. In fact, I had not “owned” any way of making meaning. I realized I was smart enough, but I also was aware I did not know how to think about life. I wanted others who knew more than I knew and had read more than I had read to help me. I was lucky in that I have received a great deal of help.
I am lucky now in that I get to help others who are wanting me to share some of what I know. And some folks want me to help them learn to think about life and assist them in their quest for a meaningful life. Often I choose to share some of the wisdom I have received from others---both living and dead. One such person who was wise and who opened up a whole tradition of wisdom was Thomas Merton, the monk from the Abbey of Gethsemani.
One of his most profound offerings of wisdom is found in his poem, Hagia Sophia. Sophia is the Greek word for wisdom---and appropriately capitalized as Wisdom. Hagia is the Greek word for “holy” or “divine.” Suffice it to say at this point, Sophia is often seen as the feminine aspect of God. Put another way, if we want to conceive of God as Mother, in addition to Father, then we would talk about God as Sophia. Because we are talking about God, we must keep in mind anything we say to describe God has to be tentative and finally inadequate. To paraphrase St. Augustine, anything we say about God cannot finally be the way it is.
That said, I do think to talk about God as Wisdom makes sense to me. And I love the way Merton articulates it in his poem. Because it is a lengthy, complex poem, let me share just a few sentences from the poem and comment on that. I begin with a sentence that betrays Merton’s theological training. He says, “Perhaps in a certain very primitive aspect Sophia is
the unknown, the dark, the nameless Ousia.” Here Merton is reflecting on the nature of Sophia---of Wisdom. Just who is she?
Merton tells us she is the unknown. She is the dark. She is the nameless. And then, Merton, uses a loaded work, Ousia. This is where knowing Greek is helpful. Ousia is the Greek word for “essence.” Even more, it is the technical word used in the Nicene creed to talk about the nature of the Godhead. Classically speaking, we describe the Christian trinity as one God in three Persons. If you know Greek, the normal word for the nature of that one God is Ousia.
In effect, Merton wants to say that the one God Who exists behind or before being revealed in the world as Father, Son and Holy Spirit (to use standard language) is an unknown, dark and nameless God (Sophia). Effectively, Merton acknowledges that God exists as an unknown and unseen Being---Sophia or Wisdom. And God also exists in a revealed and known sense---as Persons of the trinity. The next line of the poem says the same. Merton surmises, “Perhaps she is even the Divine Nature, One in Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.”
This makes sense to me and helps me be able to talk about the God who somehow moves and acts before I am aware of that divine action. Merton helps me see there is a Wisdom penetrating and permeating the world---whether I know it or not. Let’s follow Merton for a couple more sentences. As he continues to reflect on Sophia, he says, “And perhaps she is in infinite light unmanifest, not even waiting to be known as Light.”
Here Merton is associating Wisdom (Sophia) with another favorite biblical image, namely, the Light. We know Jesus is associated with the Light. And for Merton, Jesus also will be related to Sophia---to Wisdom. But Merton is tentative in his theological meditation, as we all should be. We can know God, but we can never know God fully or describe God adequately. God is finally mystery.
With Sophia we are aware of the mystery of God. Merton puts it oddly when he affirms,
“Out of the silence Light is spoken.” Notice how he picks up both silence and light. “We do not hear it or see it until it is spoken.” I know, even if I do not understand.
Perhaps I was a little unusual in that I did not go to college to get a career. I thought I probably would return to the farm and make my living that way. But I also realized making a living and making a life were not the same thing. Making a living has to do with earning enough money to be able to pay the bills and afford a family, assuming that would come along. But making a life is related to meaning and purpose. It is easy to make a living and living a meaningless life. That is sad. I did not want to be sad like that, so off to college I went.
I wanted to study religion so I could figure out how to make sense of life. I grew up a Quaker, but thought high school had not really “owned it” as my way of understanding life. In fact, I had not “owned” any way of making meaning. I realized I was smart enough, but I also was aware I did not know how to think about life. I wanted others who knew more than I knew and had read more than I had read to help me. I was lucky in that I have received a great deal of help.
I am lucky now in that I get to help others who are wanting me to share some of what I know. And some folks want me to help them learn to think about life and assist them in their quest for a meaningful life. Often I choose to share some of the wisdom I have received from others---both living and dead. One such person who was wise and who opened up a whole tradition of wisdom was Thomas Merton, the monk from the Abbey of Gethsemani.
One of his most profound offerings of wisdom is found in his poem, Hagia Sophia. Sophia is the Greek word for wisdom---and appropriately capitalized as Wisdom. Hagia is the Greek word for “holy” or “divine.” Suffice it to say at this point, Sophia is often seen as the feminine aspect of God. Put another way, if we want to conceive of God as Mother, in addition to Father, then we would talk about God as Sophia. Because we are talking about God, we must keep in mind anything we say to describe God has to be tentative and finally inadequate. To paraphrase St. Augustine, anything we say about God cannot finally be the way it is.
That said, I do think to talk about God as Wisdom makes sense to me. And I love the way Merton articulates it in his poem. Because it is a lengthy, complex poem, let me share just a few sentences from the poem and comment on that. I begin with a sentence that betrays Merton’s theological training. He says, “Perhaps in a certain very primitive aspect Sophia is
the unknown, the dark, the nameless Ousia.” Here Merton is reflecting on the nature of Sophia---of Wisdom. Just who is she?
Merton tells us she is the unknown. She is the dark. She is the nameless. And then, Merton, uses a loaded work, Ousia. This is where knowing Greek is helpful. Ousia is the Greek word for “essence.” Even more, it is the technical word used in the Nicene creed to talk about the nature of the Godhead. Classically speaking, we describe the Christian trinity as one God in three Persons. If you know Greek, the normal word for the nature of that one God is Ousia.
In effect, Merton wants to say that the one God Who exists behind or before being revealed in the world as Father, Son and Holy Spirit (to use standard language) is an unknown, dark and nameless God (Sophia). Effectively, Merton acknowledges that God exists as an unknown and unseen Being---Sophia or Wisdom. And God also exists in a revealed and known sense---as Persons of the trinity. The next line of the poem says the same. Merton surmises, “Perhaps she is even the Divine Nature, One in Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.”
This makes sense to me and helps me be able to talk about the God who somehow moves and acts before I am aware of that divine action. Merton helps me see there is a Wisdom penetrating and permeating the world---whether I know it or not. Let’s follow Merton for a couple more sentences. As he continues to reflect on Sophia, he says, “And perhaps she is in infinite light unmanifest, not even waiting to be known as Light.”
Here Merton is associating Wisdom (Sophia) with another favorite biblical image, namely, the Light. We know Jesus is associated with the Light. And for Merton, Jesus also will be related to Sophia---to Wisdom. But Merton is tentative in his theological meditation, as we all should be. We can know God, but we can never know God fully or describe God adequately. God is finally mystery.
With Sophia we are aware of the mystery of God. Merton puts it oddly when he affirms,
“Out of the silence Light is spoken.” Notice how he picks up both silence and light. “We do not hear it or see it until it is spoken.” I know, even if I do not understand.
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