her extraordina However, that strange word gratitude

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1 A Now her definition of success includes what she calls a third metric which embraces well-being, wonder, giving and not surprisingly, that strange word we ve heard day: wisdom, that ineffable understanding mind Solomon asked for. Huffingn s definition of wisdom includes: I The Wisdom Of Gratitude Dr. D. Jay Losher 19 August Gaithersburg Presbyterian Churchh I Kings 3: Matthew 7:21-29 = true wisdom rianna Huffing on, edir-in-chief of the Huffingnn Post, in her book Thrive tells how she came by sheer driving spirit extraordina ary success both in money and power. However, when shee collapsed from exhaustion in 2007, she discovered her definition of success in life had change dramatically. Understanding life as a classroom where we can learn even from our struggles Appreciating the difference between information and wisdom Paying attention our intuition and interior life Practicing and expressing gratitude nteresting parallels with Solomon s sry: both include three common metrics of success: riches, long life in honor (neither of which Solomon asked for) and understanding (for which he did ask). For Solomon and Huffingn, wisdom also includes a fourth metric: gratitude. Huffingn speaks of it in her book while Solomon acts on it: after Solomon wakes from his dream, he offers sacrifices of thanksgiving God for granting him the gift of an understanding mind. 1 The botm line for both Arianna Huffingn s biography and Solomon s sry is that a discerning mind leads inevitably a grateful heart. Wisdom is good, but the gratitude it leads inextricably is an even better response, shall we say even a wiser response. 1

2 T S olomon The Great, Solomon The Wise: for all his attributed wisdom and worldly success, yet the hisrians point out his reign was also filled with compromise and corruption. Notice the gloss in passing at the beginning of f our text: only, [ Solomon] sacrificed and offered incense at the high places, meaning Solomon committed the worst possible sin, worshipping other gods. He added his sin by taking hundreds of foreign wives and following their gods as well. He broke the first and most important commandment: Thou shalt have no other Gods beforee me. And yet God blessed Solomon, or so the chronicles read. Hisry has been kind Solomon, with good reason. His reign saw the Israelite empire reached its zenith. His false worship aside, in his reign they experienced unprecedented peace with prosperity, and the Israelites remembered it with great nostalgia. Everyone was happy. Solomon built the priests the Temple. They loved him. The farmers enjoyed good prices for their crops feed the workers in a multitude of public works. He patronized the intellectuals, and gifted the artists with so many commissions they were hard pressed keep up. Given the prosperity and the far extension of the empire, Solomon was either profoundly wise or fiendishly clever. Hisrians have chosen emphasize the former over the latter. here is another discussion of wisdom in Jesus words day. From near the end of thee Sermon on the Mount: Everyonee then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 2

3 Sage advice from Jesus. Pat Bradfield, church secretary at John Calvin PC in Dallas, says she doesn t remember a lot of scripture but does remember these verses because when she was looking for a house in Titusville, Florida, she remembered thinking, Make sure find a house built on rock not sand. T The rock of Jesus parablee is his words, his wisdom shared like Solomon s, lives built on the rock of salvation. The sand in the parable is a life lived without taking Jesus seriously, living by our own wits and cleverness, lives built on the shifting sands of fashion. Jesus and Solomon give us a stark choice: chasing after the ephemeral or the eternal. his wisdom Jesus and Solomon speak of is not the same as mere knowledge. A discerning heart is not the same as what Ariana Huffingn calls information. They are as different as rock and sand. Another sharp contrast was discussed on NPR s All Things Considered d this lastt week, people debating and defending Liberal Arts versus STEM education. You know STEM, Science, Technology, Engineerin g and Mathematics, the lucrative fields on graduation. The discussion started with the usual jokes about Liberal Arts majors ending up flipping burgers. But itt quickly evolved in a deep discussion of the relevance of Liberal Arts education in our world and society day. The discussion brought mind my own father who graduated from Texas Tech University in 1950 with a double degree in Petroleum and Mechanical engineering. He got the highest paying job offer of all the graduates that year. He was very good at it, first in drilling for oil in the booming Permian Basin, then later as a project engineer in a worldwide firm. Yet later in life, he lamented the fact thatt his greatt engineering education had left out the Humanitie es. He wished he had had a hisry course, or music, or philosophy, or art appreciation. He felt there was a whole exciting side of his life that was empty. He was successful by any measure. He did provide 3

4 well everything we needed, that was not the issue. Having devoted his life the quantitative, the emptiness was rather a quality of life issue. T he All Things Considered program consensuss centered on the need for the qualitative balance the quantitative, the Liberal Arts enrich STEM. More than merely enrich, the Liberal Arts answer the why? questions, the purpose questions, which STEM cannot alone. The Liberal Arts address and embrace the reasons live, mystery, well-being g, wonder,, ethics, and gratitude. The Liberal Arts address wisdom as opposed mere knowledge. Knowledgee without wisdom leads the frightening dyspian futures portrayed in Science Fiction. Wisdom, an understanding mind, a discerning heart is critical for existence. Without it life is merely living. A pril Yamasaki, Mennonite pasr, has added a simple gratitude list the end of her day. She lists five people, things, thoughts or experiences she can offer back God with thanks. Sometimes she writes them in her journal. More often she just mentally lists them and sends them gratefullyy God. It seems so ordinary: the wonder of sunshine, a letter in the mail, reading a good book, a church potluck, hearing a song on the radio. Simple pleasures all. She doesn t know if her gratitude practice is making her any wiser, or whether it will prevent her from collapsing in exhaustion. But it does seem a step in the right direction, ward greater well-being and wonder, and even possibly that ineffable quality: a discerning heart. 2 Solomon and Jesus tell us, more than that show us, that the measuree of our success is not by wealth and power, not by status, honor or long life alone. May wee focus on the third metric: a discerning heart and mind. And even more may our discerning hearts and understanding minds embracee the fourth metric: gratitude. 4

5 1 April Yamasaki, Christian Century, August 5, 2015, p Ibid 5