Being wise

This posting is a bit of wisdom from Mother Erika Takacs, rector of Atonement, Chicago. I’ll add a few thoughts of my own at the end.                         

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There is this silly joke that says if the Wise Men had been Wise Women, they would have asked for directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, and brought diapers, formula, and a casserole instead of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. I’ve never loved this joke; I’ve always found these kind of gender stereotypes to be a bit silly, honestly. But for some reason this week, this joke made me wonder: what does make the wise men so wise? After all, they’re late, they don’t seem to be able to find where they’re going without Herod’s help (even though there’s a huge glowing star to lead the way)—and, yes, they don’t bring the most practical gifts. (Maybe a picture book of gold, frankincense, and myrrh would have been better?)

But, of course, wise men they are, and they show us this wisdom in some surprising—and surprisingly relevant—ways:

1. They’re late to the party, but they show up anyway. How many times have we thought that it was too late for us, that there was too much ground for us to cover in our faith and so we might as well just go on home? How many times have we wondered if this time, Jesus would just slam the door in our face? But when the wise men arrive, long after the shepherds and angels have gone home, Jesus is there to meet them. Jesus is always there for us, no matter when we happen to show up.

2. They’re humble enough to ask for help. Even though they’re wise enough to travel all the way from “the East,” they don’t seem to actually know where they’re supposed to end up. And so they do (all jokes aside) ask for directions. How many times have you or I been spiritually stuck, lost in limbo or mired in discernment, and we’ve been reluctant to ask anyone for help? The wise men remind us that we are not alone, that God puts others in our lives (even surprising people like Grinchy King Herod) to help us find the paths of truth and righteousness.

3. They’re flexible. They had a plan—go see Herod in Jerusalem, then go see the child, then go back to Jerusalem to update Herod—but after having met the Christ Child, they know that their plans have to change. They pivot, away from the power of the world and towards the power of God. Good grief does this ring true for us right now. How flexible have we all been these past two years?! We’re all doing things now that we never thought possible. Some of them don’t bring us much joy, truth be told, but the practice of flexibility, of responding to the situation we’re in and (more importantly) to the Christ present in that situation, is the beginning of true wisdom. Who knew we’ve been such magi since March of 2020?

So maybe the wise men didn’t bring a casserole. But they do show us how showing up, asking for help, and being willing to change our plans can all be signs of true Grace, true faith—true wisdom. May we all manifest this kind of wisdom to the world.

The Very Rev’d Erika L. Takacs
Rector, Church of the Atonement 

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Sister Michelle Heyne, OA and I are working on a program to offer at St. Clement’s, Seattle. It emerged out of a lunch meeting we had at Fr. Kevin’s home with him and the two pastoral associates, Susan and Rick. The idea is to offer a practical pathway of training and coaching for a few parishioners who want to develop a more disciplined and flexible spiritual practice. The kind of practice that Martin Thornton saw as the stuff of what he called the Remnant and what in the Shape of the Parish model we refer to as the Apostolic. The core of what we’re putting together is to assist them in establishing a workable practice for living the threefold rule of prayer (Eucharist, Office, Personal Devotions) and more effectively living in the isolation between renewal in our baptismal identity and purposes and our daily life apostolate.

Mother Erika's three points -They’re late to the party, but they show up anyway. They’re humble enough to ask for help. They’re flexible

At St. Clements we’re mostly an older group of people with long established spiritual life patterns. There are also a few younger and new to the whole enterprise. If you’re 50 or 60 or 70 it’s easy to think we’re too late to go to this party and it’s somewhat embarrassing to not have faced into it earlier in life. I think older people split into two groups. One becomes less flexible emotionally and spiritually, the other become more flexible. So, maybe this opportunity will offer a safe route into personal renewal for the one group and an opportunity for those already longing for a pathway.

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