William Brassey Hole: David Fleeing Jerusalem is Cursed by Shimei
Wednesday, January 8, 2025
We have journeyed through Christmastide. We have spent time with the magi and their gifts of wisdom, mystery and grace. Today we reflect on one of Jesus’ major messages: Loving our enemies.
Various translations present today’s story with varying titles; yet despite the words, the story of David’s patience, wisdom and forgiveness remains the same. David – who seeks forgiveness from Yahweh himself – understands the importance of mercy. David says that we need to allow our foes to curse us if that is the will of God, for who are we to stand in the way of God’s design? When Shimei curses him, David says, Let him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. Later, in Chapter 19, Shimei returns to David and repents his cursing. David forgives him.
What do we learn today? We never know when someone is on his or her conversion path, and to allow someone conversion of heart is correct, just, and God-like.
As we move forward into this new year, we will want to give thought to the benefit, the beauty and the grace we might find in allowing our adversaries to curse us.
When we use the scripture link and the drop-down menus to explore various versions of these verses, we discover the many gifts that come to us when we love our enemies.
With Christmastide ending, we find ourselves observing the official feast of Epiphany. What significance does this feast hold for us? To further explore, we return to a Noontime reflection on the wisdom of the Magi. We reflect on the wisdom they reveal, the wisdom of patience, willingness, and openness as they listen to God’s voice that speaks within.
I love this portion of the Christmas story. The wise men are sowise that they are able to read Herod’s secret intent. Nothing can be hidden from the wise because they are so connected to the creator that they seem to have special insight. What they really have is patience, serenity, and a finely tuned ear for God’s word. And so the wise men left for their own country by another road.
I am thinking about the number of times I have averted disaster because that calm, strong voice within indicated that I was to stay put. We notice that an attitude of patience and a willingness to obey always accompany the wise. They do not appear to be brash or excitable. They do not speak harshly, nor are they silenced. Like the Persistent Widow, they know when to persevere in speaking God’s word. And like the Three Magi, they know when to stand down and melt away into God’s protecting presence.
The wise know when to stand and witness – and when to leave quietly by another road.
On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me seven swans a-swimming.
Wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, fear of God. These seven gifts freely given by the Spirit reside with us – whether we know it or not, and whether we believe it or not. When we least expect it, the Spirit rises to provide us with the tools we need for the circumstances we experience.
Wisdomcomes to us with patience and with waiting on the LORD. When we reflect on the persons who hold wisdom, we realize that they listen more than they speak, praise more than they berate, and love more than they disparage. These gifted ones share their wisdom with us, and we do well to share God’s wisdom with others.
Understandingis more than comprehending, more than accepting, and more than believing. Understanding pierces darkness, brings lights, nurtures love in others and enacts love in all. When we practice understanding, we receive more than we expect, and more than we can hold. Understanding grows wherever it resides.
Counselallows each of us to respond to God’s call no matter how challenging, no matter how awkward, no matter how uncomfortable we may feel. Counsel converts fear into courage. Counsel transforms hatred into love. Those who are open to God’s counsel are better able to see The Way of Christ and to follow.
Fortitudebrings us the strength to do what needs to be done when few others will do it. Fortitude brings us the resolution to endure suffering, and to allow God’s hand to convert our suffering into joy. When we allow God’s fortitude to support us in difficult times, we remember Psalm 126: they go out weeping and return rejoicing.
Knowledgeof the LORD brings us the foundation on which to stand as we enact the work God calls us to do in this world that struggles to be Kingdom here and now. This gift, perhaps more than any other, allows us to speak and act with authority as Jesus does. Knowledge instructs our decisions, lives in our words, and guides our actions. Knowledge informs our sense of justice and mercy, brings order out of confusion, and love out of hate.
Pietyis not a saccharine, duty-bound quality of sweetness; rather, it is love bolstered by God’s power, fidelity strengthened by God’s steadfastness, and hope empowered by God’s promise. Piety is faithful because it makes the choice to persist in God’s love and to believe in God’s covenant. Piety does more than just show up. Piety acts with compassion and patience; and piety is unshakable.
Fear of Godis not the experience of anxiety or alarm; it is instead love of God for God’s sake. It demonstrates respect, seeks to worship, and shares joy in the experience of God. One who fears the LORD, stands in awe of God’s goodness and is eager to share the Good News of our rescue from pain and worry.
These seven gifts are more than words. They are tangible forces in our lives. They are stones with which we lay the foundation for our relationship with God. Those who would be wise, are also understanding. Those who give counsel also provide fortitude. Those with knowledge and piety live in awe of God who loves us into creation, and who abides with us even beyond the end of time. On this eve of a new year, we do well to open ourselves to these gifts freely given.
Isaiah 11 describes the Spirit’s gifts as does Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 12.
Jesus tells us that the Creator remains with us in the form of the Spirit.
The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and make you remember all that I have told you. (GNT)
Jesus tells us that the Spirit abides in us through all our suffering and all our joy.
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. (NRSV)
Jesus tells us that although he is no longer visible to us in his original form, he is still with us through the hands and feet, words and healing of others.
But the Counselor, the Ruach HaKodesh, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything; that is, he will remind you of everything I have said to you. (CJB)
Jesus tells us that the Creator’s wisdom resides in us in the form of God’s Spirit.
I’m telling you these things while I’m still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. (MSG)
Jesus tells us that we have an advocate who brings healing and restoration, we have an advocate who promises justice and mercy, we have an advocate we can trust. Let us share this good news today in the way we live and love.
When we compare varying translations of these verses, we find that we have an advocate we can trust, the healing, transformative presence of God.
For a prayer based on this verse, enter the words Prayer for Understanding into the blog search bar.
Richard Rohr, OFM explains that we learn wisdom and have no need to judge others when we allow ourselves to ripen in God’s image, to mature in Christ’s love, to grow in the Spirit’s patience and perseverance.
“If we are to speak of a spirituality of ripening, we need to recognize that it is always characterized by an increasing tolerance for ambiguity, a growing sense of subtlety, an ever-larger ability to include and allow, and a capacity to live with contradictions and even to love them!” (Rohr 346)
Paul tells the Ephesians, and he tells us: And so we shall all come together to that oneness in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God; we shall become mature people, reaching to the very height of Christ’s full stature. (GNT)
God says: You have no need to judge one another. You have no need to point out specks on the eyes of others. You have no need to strain gnats before drinking from the cup I offer you. Do you see yourself swallowing camels or does the log in your eye keep you from discerning your own image? How do you represent me in the world? How do you act as my hands and feet, lips and eyes, heart and mind? My Spirit lives in you to bring you wisdom and patience. My Son lives in you to bring courage and persistence. I live in you to bring you strength and maturity.When you welcome ripening, you will suffer loss but this loss is a gain when you allow me to suffer with you. When you welcome maturity, your desire to protect yourself or to win at all costs will disappear because when you fully welcome me you will learn that with me a loss is a gain and a gain is a loss. When you ripen in me, you never grow old. When you mature in me, you never fear the woes of the world. When you grow in me, there is no limit to your patience and love. Come to me when you worry about gnats and camels, specks and beams, rights and wrongs. Come to me, and you will have need of nothing more, for my love alone is enough.
Today we God offers us an opportunity to seek growth, wisdom and maturity. God calls us to ripen in the Spirit, and to come to full season in Christ.
We seek wisdom, justice, prudence and restoration of all that has been lost. Old Testament wisdom writers remind the rulers of this world that the solution to chaos lies in the wisdom that lasts forever. And we see wisdom more clearly when we conduct our lives with honesty.
Love justice, you rulers of the world. Set your minds sincerely on the Lord, and look for God with all honesty.
The writers further warn that it is quite easy to slip away from the way God calls us to walk.
Dishonest thoughts separate people from God, and if we are foolish enough to test God, God’s power will put us to shame.
How do we employ this ancient wisdom? What do we do today when we find ourselves engulfed in turmoil? How do we filter the false from the real?
Wisdom is a spirit that is friendly to people, but she will not forgive anyone who speaks against God, for God knows our feelings and thoughts, and hears our every word.
How much do we avoid believing that we can hide our dishonesty from our Creator What do we do to follow the way of honesty and the wisdom God’s way?
Since the Lord’s spirit fills the entire world, and holds everything in it together, Wisdom knows every word that people say.
These ancient words repeat to us the importance of stripping all deceit from our lives, and the significance of cleaving always to God’s call for integrity and sincerity.
When we use the scripture link and the drop-down menus to compare other translations of these verses, we fog of confusion rises to reveal God’s way of integrity.
Wisdom and Righteousness are elusive, Qohelet tells us; and this does not surprise us. We seek these qualities throughout our lives because they lead us to our divine self, our immortality, our infinity. Today’s reflection invites us to seek our divine self by looking at the inversions presented as evidence that this divinity lives in us constantly . . . it is with us, even as we go in search of it.
Perhaps we do not find this divine selfbecause we are distracted by the cares and needs of daily living; yet it is in this quotidian life that we find the divine. Qohelet reminds us that we best find understanding through sorrow, joy through grief, success through failure, happiness through pain, fulfillment through loss. He further invites us to examine the life of the wicked and the idolatrous as contrasted with that of the wise and the righteous. The former finds mirth in a present life of carefree festivity, while the later finds divinity in this life and in the next . . . through an ever-maturing communion with God.
Our divine selfis elusive when we seek it with our human eye; yet it steps into full view when we drop all pretense and allow ourselves to be directed by the voice that challenges us through loss.
We find this divine self, Qohelet points out, when we put aside impatience and put on the enduring mantle of hope. We find it when we put aside relationships in which we are the hunter and the hunted, and make the decision to enter into those that blossom with fidelity and constancy. We find it when we commit to the worship of the one true God rather than false covenants of comfort or fame.
When we allow God to balance our lives, we journey from the dark places to the light, wisdom makes an immediate and steadfast appearance, and righteousness guards us as we weave between the stones in the obstacle path of our pilgrimage. The divine selfwe seek is no longer elusive.
And so in gratitude we pray as we read.
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.Bring us your wisdom, O Lord.
It is better to hearken to the wise man’s rebuke, than it is to hearken to the song of fools.Bring us your wisdom, O Lord.
As the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the fool’s laughter. Grant us your righteousness, O Lord.
Better is the patient spirit than the lofty spirit. Show us our divine self, O Lord.
Consider the work of God. Who can make straight what he has made crooked? On a good day enjoy good things, and on an evil day consider: both the one and the other God has made, so that man cannot find fault with him in anything. Be not elusive, O Lord.
As we begin to close our journey through Proverbs, we reprise this Favorite from October 2009. We have explored our relationships with fools and friends, we have walked with the wise and accompanied fools who are whacked on the head. Watching Lady Wisdom build her house, we have learned that God’s heart asks for union with each of us. Exploring wise sayings of Solomon and others, we have understood that God allows us to lose and find our way. Knowing that God misses nothing and that each morning we are offered armloads of life, we continue to ask for the cure of God’s love and listen for Spirit that speaks to us within.
The Noontimes 