Woman Wise

Seeking wisdom as well as knowledge

Mark 10:17-30

As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus answered him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honor your father and your mother." He replied and said to him, "Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth."

 Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, "You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." At that statement his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

          I don’t know if you’ve heard this but we live in the so-called “Information Age.” That means that we’re all driving ninety-to-nothing along the information superhighway bombarded by all kinds of facts, figures and fun stuff. Almost infinite information sits at our finger tips, thanks to Google, and no thanks to God. But while we accumulate more and more knowledge and information, we seem to have less and less wisdom and understanding. For instance, we have T.V. shows called “Are you smarter than a fifth grader?” but we don’t have a T.V. show called “Are you wiser than a fifth grader?” Who cares if you’re wiser?? We value people with “know how” – who know how to fix your car or your computer or your toilet – but we have little interest in people with “know why” – who know why you have a car or a computer or a toilet! Who cares if you know why?? We pay big bucks to bankers and businessmen, to doctors and dentists, but only pennies to professors or pastors or priests (you knew I had to throw that in there!). At the end of the day, we just don’t want to think that hard, because it’s just too hard to think. Albert Einstein, the great physicist said, “Thinking is hard work; that’s why so few people do it.” In other words, we live in the Age of Information, but not in the Age of Wisdom.

          In the gospel today Jesus invites a young man to take an exit off the information superhighway and to wander into the world of wisdom; to ask “why” and not just “how.” The young man asks Jesus, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” In other words, he wants to know HOW to get into heaven. But notice Jesus deflects his question and asks, “WHY do you call me good?” That is, don’t seek merely knowledge but rather seek wisdom; don’t just ask “how” but also ask “why”? And then, surprisingly, Jesus urges the young man to give his money to the poor and come follow him. Why? Because as Pope Francis keeps reminding us, the poor have a lot to teach us, namely, they can teach us wisdom. They are not on the information superhighway because they don’t have a car, or a computer, and some don’t even have a toilet. When you don’t have a lot of things, you can do a lot more thinking.

          Did you know that Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, drove an old pick-up truck? In his autobiography called “Made in America,” he explained why, saying, “I don’t believe a big showy life-style is appropriate for anywhere, least of all here in Bentonville, where folks work hard for their money and where we all know that everyone puts their trousers on one leg at a time.” Sam sought to understand others by living a simpler life-style, just like Jesus suggested to the young man. To be sure, Sam Walton definitely wanted a lot of knowledge and information, but he also wanted wisdom, and simplicity of life helped him. And it can help you, too.

          Do you know another great place to gain wisdom? It’s from women. Pope John Paul II said women possess something called “feminine genius” that we men need to learn. Recently, I heard about three men who died and arrived at the gates of heaven, but before God let them enter, he gave them a chance to come back as anything they wanted. The first guy said, “I want to come back as myself, but 100 times smarter.” So God made him 100 times smarter. The second guy said, “I want to be better than that guy, so make me 1,000 times smarter.” So, God made him 1,000 times smarter. The last guy decided he would be the best. So he said, “God, make me better than both of them, make me 1,000,000 times smarter.” So, God made him a woman. But you see, becoming a woman doesn’t just mean being smarter, I believe it means becoming wiser. Men worry about “how” to do something, but women wonder “why” we should do something. Men want to be smarter, women want to be wiser. That’s the feminine genius.

          Today, I invite you to grow not only in knowledge but also in wisdom. Don’t just ask yourself HOW to do something, ask WHY you do something. Don’t just ask, how do I make the Sign of the Cross, ask why should I? Don’t just ask, how do I lose weight, rather ask why should I lose weight, or better yet, why did I gain this weight?? Don’t just ask, how do I register my child for Sunday school, also ask why do I send my child to a public school and not to a Catholic school? Don’t ask how do I invite Fr. John for supper, ask instead, why have I waited so long?? My friends, these “why questions” are tough questions because they require us to stop, to get off the information superhighway, and to think. And “thinking is hard work, that’s why so few people do it.”

          So let me ask you: which question is more important, to know how or to know why? If you don’t know the answer, maybe you just need to be a million times smarter.

          Praised be Jesus Christ!