“Later, two women who were prostitutes came to the king (Solomon) and stood before him. The one woman said, “Please, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house; and I gave birth while she was in the house. Then on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. We were together; there was no one else with us in the house, only the two of us were in the house. Then this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him. She got up in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while your servant slept. She laid him at her breast, and laid her dead son at my breast. When I rose in the morning to nurse my son, I saw that he was dead; but when I looked at him closely in the morning, clearly it was not the son I had borne.” But the other woman said, “No, the living son is mine, and the dead son is yours.” The first said, “No, the dead son is yours, and the living son is mine.” So they argued before the king. Then the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead’; while the other says, ‘Not so! Your son is dead, and my son is the living one.’” So the king said, “Bring me a sword,” and they brought a sword before the king. The king said, “Divide the living boy in two; then give half to the one, and half to the other.” But the woman whose son was alive said to the king—because compassion for her son burned within her—“Please, my lord, give her the living boy; certainly do not kill him!” The other said, “It shall be neither mine nor yours; divide it.” Then the king responded: “Give the first woman the living boy; do not kill him. She is his mother.” All Israel heard of the judgment that the king had rendered; and they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him, to execute justice.” 1 Kings 3:16-28

“THE SACRED JOURNEY: What I propose to do now is to try listening to my life as a whole, or at least to certain key moments of the first half of my life thus far, for whatever of meaning, of holiness, of God, there may be in it to hear. My assumption is that the story of any one of us is in some measure the story of us all.” (Buechner, Frederick. Listening to Your Life. HarperOne. Kindle Edition.)

Chess is a difficult game though it may look easy enough. It does not require a high level of physical conditioning, but it does take years and years of mental awareness. There might be pieces that are sitting on a static board waiting for someone to move them, but without knowing it, there are moves happening in the minds of the chess players that are being planned way in advance of the pieces being selected.    

Solomon asked the Lord for wisdom when the Lord offered him anything he might want. And it appears his selection was a wise one.  This wisdom served him well throughout his reign as king, as the above story suggests. We could only hope to be blessed with a small amount of such wisdom – especially when it comes to navigating another new year. This year, just like every new year, presents itself to us as a blank canvas, or as Buechner calls it, the continuation of a sacred journey. The picture of our growth in faith and wisdom in faith is yet to be painted.

One more piece of advice that comes from Solomon’s wisdom comes from the book of Proverbs:

“Look to the ant…;consider its ways, and be wise. Without having any chief or officer or ruler, it prepares its food in summer, and gathers its sustenance in harvest. How long will you lie there…? When will you rise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want, like an armed warrior.” Proverbs 6:6-11

Let us look to 2021 as the continuation of our sacred journey, and not as a blank slate for fear or regret.

Pastor Dave