Recently, I heard a friend of mine speaking on some topics from my favorite 20th century monk, Thomas Merton. Rightly, my friend describes the importance of wisdom as a theme in Merton’s theology and spirituality. Wisdom is an important theme in the Christian Bible and in Christian history. But clearly, it is not limited to Christians. Wisdom theology, as it can be called, is also found in nearly all the major religious tradition. It is certainly prevalent in Jewish theology. In fact, some of our favorite books of the Bible are called “Wisdom tradition.” These would include Proverbs, Psalms and others. One of the things my friends referred to was Merton’s famous and rather long poem entitled, Hagia Sophia.
Sophia is the Greek word for wisdom. Hagia means “holy, sacred.” Merton’s poem, therefore, is an ode to holy Wisdom. It is such a rich, thought-provoking meditation on Sophia, who is God and who is present in the world. The poem is structured about the span of one day. Or probably better, it is organized the way a monk’s day would be organized. The last part of that structure is sunset or, as the monks call it, Compline. Compline means the day is complete. It is the last gathering of the monks to pray for rest at night and for God’s protection. I would like to look at some of Merton’s points as he writes this last piece of the poem.
Near the end of that section and the end of the poem, Merton tells us, “God enters into His creation” I very much like this theological claim. I also think God comes into this creation, a part of which I am. Merton wants to affirm that God is not simply some distant, now uninvolved Creator. Not at all; God enters into this creation---God’s creation. Notice the next line, since Merton purposely uses the feminine voice, which is appropriate since Sophia in Greek and Hebrew is a feminine word.
Here is how Merton puts it: “Through her wise answer, through her obedient understanding, through the sweet yielding consent of Sophia, God enters without publicity into the city of rapacious men.” When I read this, I get the sense of God’s tenderness. Sophia comes into our midst much like a mother, who is here to care and caress. The is not trumpets, fanfare and noise when God comes into our midst. In fact, I believe Merton is telling us, if we are not really aware, it will be easy to miss this divine entry into our world. God comes into our midst without publicity. There is no tv announcement, no Facebook post or tweet.
The details about God’s coming presence in our world come from Merton’s pen in a surprising way. Remember that God comes to us from Sophia and as wisdom. She is among us. Please don’t get thrown off track by the feminine descriptors. Here is how Merton writes it. “She sends the infinitely Rich and Powerful One forth as poor and helpless…” I love this. I am warned. God does not come as we might expect or even want God to come. God who is rich and powerful comes as poor and helpless. We might be tempted to yell, “What kind of God is that!” We might even pine for a better God.
If this is my perspective, then I probably am dealing with an idol---a god of my own making. If Christians know anything, it is that Jesus comes into our midst in ways that differed from Jewish expectations of the Messiah. Jesus told the Romans he was not a king like they feared. And yet, he was Sophia in our midst---in some sense, poor and helpless. This is reassuring to me that the kingdom Jesus proclaimed would not be the political powerhouse some of us might have wanted. Rather his kingdom rests on things like humility, compassion and that “soft stuff!”
I think this is what Merton has in mind as he finishes his poem in a quite moving fashion. He begins the very last piece by saying, “The shadows fall. The stars appear. The birds begin to sleep. Night embraces the silent half of the earth. A vagrant, a destitute wanderer with dusty feet, finds hi way down a new road.” Is this wanderer Jesus? Is the vagrant, destitute person really wisdom in our midst and we hardly guessed it. Who would ask that person for anything---certainly not wisdom? Again, I am cautioned about the kind of preconceptions and preconceived notions I have about God, Jesus and all the rest. I will need eyes to see.
Merton leaves no doubt in my mind. Merton says, “A homeless God, lost in the night, without papers, without identification, without even a number, a frail expendable exile lies down in desolation under the sweet stars of the world and entrusts himself to sleep.” Perhaps it is difficult to image God as homeless. But I ask, does this not sound a bit like the Christmas story? Jesus was not born in a Hilton! Perhaps all of us who stay in the Hilton need to pay particular attention.
If we are Hilton people, then we may miss and never see the God who enters the world. We would dismiss the vagrant, homeless person. Our culture does a very good job of ignoring the poor. God even sounds a bit like an immigrant in Merton’s account. I am thankful for Merton and his wisdom. I am willing to trust he has been taught by wisdom---Sophia---and may well have insight into the God who enters the world.
Those of us who have read theology or, perhaps, those who are people of faith and are old enough might well recognize this title as a reminder of the late Jewish philosopher and theologian, Martin Buber. I remember reading Buber’s book, I and Thou , when I was in college in the 1960s. It was already a famous book by then. I am not sure I fully understood it, but that would not be the last time I read it. It has been a while since I looked at the book. Buber came up in a conversation with a friend who asked if I had seen the recent article by David Brooks? I had not seen it, but when I was told about it, I knew I would quickly locate and read that piece. I very much like what Brooks decides to write about and what he contributes to societal conversation. I wish more people read him and took him seriously. Brooks’ article focused on the 2016 contentious election. He provocatively suggests, “Read Buber, Not the Polls!” I think Brooks puts
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