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| Image by Robert J. Heath |
A GREETING
To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
(Psalm 25:1)
A READING
Wisdom teaches her children
and gives help to those who seek her.
Whoever loves her loves life,
and those who seek her from early morning are filled with joy.
Whoever holds her fast inherits glory,
and the Lord blesses the place she enters.
Those who serve her minister to the Holy One;
the Lord loves those who love her.
(Sirach 4:11-14)
MUSIC
A MEDITATIVE VERSE
Say to wisdom, “You are my sister”;
call understanding “friend."
(Proverbs 7:4)
A REFLECTION
Holy persons draw to themselves all that is earthly. . . . The earth is at the same time mother, She is mother of all that is natural, mother of all that is human. She is the mother of all, for contained in her are the seeds of all.
- Hildegard of Bingen, as translated and quoted in
Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality, by Matthew Fox
VERSE OF THE DAY
Strength and dignity are her clothing,
and she laughs at the time to come.
(Proverbs 31:25)
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| Image by Robert J. Heath |
Wisdom in the books of the bible where she appears, is always positoned as female. The ancient languages of the bible always figure Wisdom with feminine forms. The same is also true in both Hebrew and Greek for "Holy Spirit," but years of translation into the masculine pronoun has made it more challenging in some contexts to adopt that form. And yet, biblically, Holy Spirit is as much female as Wisdom is.
The 'divine feminine' was of deep interest to Hildegard. She refers to Mary as the 'ground of all being,' a phrase that is more usually associated with God, thanks to Meister Eckhart's later use of the term. The divine feminine is linked in Celtic Christianity to the earth: "mother earth", and particularly the actual ground and soil and deep stratas of humus and rock and sediment beneath the ground's surface, are places of verdancy and growth. The ground can be likened to the 'womb,' in which darkness holds the breath of new life.
Many biblical books, including Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Sirach and the Wisdom of Solomon, spend long verses extoling the presence and power of Wisdom. She is sometimes called 'Sophia' and linked with Jesus. She participates in the Word, is present at the dawn of Creation. Although not a historical figure, Wisdom is an imaginative biblical construction with profound presence and influence.
Hildegard wrote at length about Wisdom, whom she called Sapientia, not only in her books but in her music. For Hildegard, the persona of Wisdom is infused with deep compassion. She sometimes calls the figure Love, which feels closer to a creative generating manifestation of God's world to her. While it might come easily to imagine God's love as an essential aspect of God, how does it affect our prespectives on care for Creation to think of the earth as womb-like, ready always for new life? When we consider contemporary industries and activities like deep-sea mining, fracking and even just the paving over of topsoil with concrete, how are we challenged to make sure that the womb of the earth survives?
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Scripture passages are taken from the Common English Bible.
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LC† Radiant Earth, Sacred Calling is a devotional series of Lutherans Connect, supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Centre for Spirituality and Media at Martin Luther University College. To receive the devotions by email, write to lutheransconnect@gmail.com. The devotional pages are written and curated by Deacon Sherry Coman, with support and input from Pastor Steve Hoffard, Catherine Evenden and Henriette Thompson. Join us on Facebook. Lutherans Connect invites you to make a donation to the Ministry by going to this link on the website of the ELCIC Eastern Synod and selecting "Lutherans Connect Devotionals" under "Fund". Devotions are always freely offered, however your donations help support the ongoing work.
Thank you and peace be with you!
