Have you ever said something horrible about a person, just to realize that the person was standing right behind you? I somewhat feel this way about Wisdom. Almost in reading a passage entitled "Wisdom is Meaningless" I feel like I have betrayed her. I wonder if I'm going to turn around and the same Wisdom whom I have had metaphorical coffee with the past few weeks in Proverbs will be standing behind me, wondering how far I have fallen in only a couple days out of Proverbs.
Yet, I completely get where Ecclesiastes is coming by. Did anyone else find in reading the Proverbs that applying all of them in a single life would be next to impossible? What a heavy burden, indeed! I completely understand chasing after wind after just trying to apply one proverb each day. So how do we put together that Wisdom is desirable and Wisdom is a chasing after the wind?
Wisdom is worth chasing after, but be ready for it. This chapter concludes with a proverb (irony!) about wisdom creating grief. The more people know, the more grief there is to be had. Ignorance is bliss, right? But ignorance is still ignorance- it isn't reality. Opening our eyes and trying to see will be frustrating. We will be frustrated at what we don't know, and frustrated at what we do. We will be saddened to see what is really going on in the world, and saddened at our inability to change it. And hopefully, in the midst of all of that, we will be drawn back into the loving arms of our God.
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