For the wisdom of the wise is doomed. Is 29:14

I read in the NYTimes on Monday that there is a new book out by a former Christian who writes that all the suffering in the world proves that the Bible is wrong and there is no God. It is a so-called learned book because he is very familiar with the Bible and had memorized whole sections of the Gospels when he was young. Then I remembered a passage from St. Paul

1Cor. 1:20-25. Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

Now there are times when Christians who believe still want signs or want some way to have complete understanding of suffering. Jesus says no sign will be given except that of Jonah in the whale… the Resurrection of Jesus. And Jesus once cried out loud in prayer:
Lk.10:21 I thank you, Father, for you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to little ones.

Do we too ask why me? Why my loved one? Or are we content to be little? To walk by faith and not by sight? Are we convinced that our crucified Christ is indeed the power of God and the wisdom of God? The witness to this reality is the resurrection. When we say Amen, we are saying yes to the Will of God. We need to ask God to sustain this yes in us as He did in Mary. Her yes at the beginning went on steadfastly to the foot of the Cross, to the resurrection , to the Cenacle where all were filled with the Holy Spirit. We are Christians not just for our own sake but the sake of bringing the good news to others.

When we meditate, quietly giving our attention to a prayer phrase repeated for about 30 minutes,, we are consenting to our ‘litheness’, consenting to walk by faith. We trust in the power and the wisdom of God – at least for this time – and hope God will have mercy on us and do what He wills in us..