FWIW - musings of a webmaster

FWIW

The musings of a webmaster

Monday 4 June 2007

Hearing the wisdom of Solomon?

"Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad."

This little gem came to mind last week as I was perched on top of a ladder painting our kitchen ceiling. It was not the act of decorating that caused it to surface from the depths of my memory, but Handel's lavish oratorio "Solomon", which I was listening to at the time. I admit, when Handel wrote the piece he probably didn't have in mind that it would be enjoyed by some guy up a ladder with a roller in his hand. It would probably also be a bit of a surprise to Sir John Eliot Gardiner whose dazzling recording I was listening to. But "Solomon", however and wherever it is heard, is much more than wallpaper music.

The rousing opening chorus of Scene 1 sets the context for the piece:

Your harps and cymbals sound

To great Jehovah's praise;

Unto the Lord of Hosts

Your willing voices raise.

The legendary wisdom of Solomon is celebrated throughout the work. The priests and the Israelites obviously think that he is a pretty impressive guy - two examples:

From the east unto the west

Who so wise as Solomon?

Who like Israel's king is bless'd,

Who so worthy of a throne...

and...

Swell, swell the full chorus to Solomon's praise,

Record him, ye bards, as the pride of our days.

Flow sweetly the numbers that dwell on his name,

And rouse the whole nation in songs to his fame.

Now that's what I call critical acclaim!

But, I wondered, who was Solomon, and why does he still enjoy this reputation for wisdom? Indeed, is it deserved? Is Handel's Solomon a very idealised portrayal of the man? I enjoyed the music so much (I listened to the oratorio three times during my week of decorating!) that it inspired me to go back to the Bible and read 1 Kings Chapters 1 to 11. Now, gentle reader, coming up are a few highlights of Solomon's life. If you are already well versed in his life and times you should feel free to skip the following, non-comprehensive, non-authoritative summary. As for me, I needed a bit of a refresher, so here goes:

Solomon was the son of King David, he succeeded him as King of Israel at the age of 20, and reigned for 40 years.
Early in his reign, God came to him and said, "ask for whatever you want me to give you." Solomon asked for "a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between good and evil." God was pleased with Solomon’s request and promised him not only great wisdom, but also great riches and honour – providing he kept his commands.
Solomon became known worldwide for his wisdom and insight. In Chapter 3 there is the well known story of the two harlots who come to King David with loads of accusations and a baby, asking him to settle the argument between the two of them over who is the baby's rightful mother. Solomon calls for a sword to cut the baby in half so they can divide it equally. One of the women, out of compassion for the child, stops the king and agrees that the other woman should have the baby. Solomon thus identifies the compassionate woman as the child's true mother and returns the baby to her.
He was a great builder. He built the first Temple, a luxurious palace and ordered many other building projects.
He met the Queen of Sheba who showered him with gifts.
He is purported to have written several books of the Bible including Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes and, in the Apocrypha, The Wisdom of Solomon.
He entered into trade agreements with surrounding nations which led to even greater riches but these ultimately led to Solomon’s downfall. Solomon dealt with nations that worshiped false gods and it was customary for them to seal a deal by offering a woman to the king to marry. He had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Many of these wives worshipped false idols. Over time they eventually led Solomon astray to do the same, and his heart rather turned away from God.

The Handel oratorio certainly reflects Solomon's good qualities, but it omits any reference to his vulnerabilities. The Bible stories reveal that whilst Solomon was certainly a wise man, he was still just a man.

All this led me to wonderwhat is wisdom? It is certainly different to knowledge and it is surely more than intelligence. There have been thousands of pages written in exploration of the nature of wisdom, but there are two succinct quotations that have, for me, the ring of truth about them.

Wisdom is not finally tested in the schools, Wisdom cannot be pass'd from one having it to another not having it, Wisdom is of the soul, is not susceptible of proof, is its own proof.

Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)

There is no wisdom without love.

N Sri. Ram (1889 - 1973)

Both of these suggest that wisdom is something larger than ourselves. Perhaps, rather than something we can achieve, it is something we can become attuned to through listening, observation and reflection - could this be prayer? Solomon himself sees Wisdom very much as an attribute of God, which finally becomes personified as God himself. In the stunningly beautiful seventh chapter of The Wisdom of Solomon he extols the virtues of Wisdom:

For she is a reflection of eternal light,
a spotless mirror of the working of God,
and an image of his goodness...

in every generation she passes into holy souls
and makes them friends of God, and prophets;
for God loves nothing so much as the person who lives with wisdom.

Solomon's wisdom was a gift from God, and it was when he got led astray and started to turn his back on God that things began to go wrong for him. This bears some reflection. Notwithstanding these human failings, we are still touched by his life 3000 years later, and Handel's glorious oratorio is a worthy tribute to an extraordinary man.

Sir John Eliot Gardiner, in his recording of "Solomon" has, wisely I think, substituted the penultimate chorus as the final one. Thus, after all the glorification of Solomon, the closing chorus of the piece rings out in a triumphant, spine tingling crescendo of voices, strings, trumpets and timpani:

Let the loud Hosannahs rise,

Widely spreading through the skies,

God alone is just and wise!

Perhaps here we find the key. If we are able to remember that all human wisdom is a gift of God, we may cease our strivings to become wise through our own meagre efforts and simply aspire to become worthy to receive the gift in whatever proportion God sees fit to grant it.

Or to paraphrase Melvyn Matthews, perhaps, in the end, wisdom is attained by the abandonment of any attempt to attain it. It is a free gift which is not ours to manipulate.

Maybe the beginning of wisdom is to have faith that indeed "God alone is just and wise!"

Blessings from all of us at St. Andrew's Church in Taunton UK.

Adrian

Webmaster

NOTE: I am the webmaster of St. Andrew's Church, not clergy or a reader. I write as 'a man in a pew' so you should not assume that I necessarily know what I'm talking about, or that what I say reflects the views of other people in our church.

To read previous weeks' FWIWs please click here.

With acknowledgement to www.biblestudyplanet.com

Photo: Sir John Eliot Gardner

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