PRUDENCE A sermon by Kenneth W. Phifer, Delivered at First UU Church Ann Arbor, MI January 9, 2005 The theme of my remarks today is prudence, or wisdom. The latter term was used by the Greeks—Pindar, Plato, and others—the former by Christian Medievalists. By whatever name, prudence or wisdom is about knowing the best way to live. Every human society has a store of wisdom that it attempts to pass on to future generations. In non-literate societies, such wisdom is passed on orally, in myths, stories of the ancestors, and in rituals that guide the life of the people and protect them. In literate societies, wisdom is written down to be preserved for the ages. The Greeks, for example, came up with the idea of listing human sins and virtues, ones we still use to try and understand ourselves better. The Chinese gave the world the wisdom of the Tao in a collection of sayings attributed to Lao-tzu. Number 68 reads "Good warriors do not arm, good fighters don't get mad, good winners don't contend, good employers serve their workers. This is called the virtue of noncontention; this is called mating with the supremely natural and pristine." The Jewish people created a large body of literature called Wisdom Literature, found in both the Bible and in non-canonical works. In well known Biblical texts like Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job, we find teachings like the following: "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger" (Proverbs 15:1); "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven" (Ecclesiastes 3:1); "The price of wisdom is above pearls." (Job 28:18b) Christians looked to Jesus Christ as the great teacher of wisdom. The collection of his sayings found in the Sermon on the Mount are a kind of compendium of Christian wisdom. We should love not only our neighbors but our enemies as well. We should not give alms to the sound of trumpets but in secret. We should pray not to be seen praying but in the privacy of our own room. The peacemakers and the merciful, those who seek righteousness and those who are pure in heart bless the earth with their lives. Muslims too have a tradition of wisdom. One saying advises that "Halls and colleges and learned discourses and porch and arch; what advantage are they when the wise heart and seeing eye are absent." (Hafiz). Another teaches that "The wise have inherited wisdom by means of silence and contemplation." (Manshadh al-Dinawari) A text from this past year by former Senator Paul Simon, FIFTY-TWO SIMPLE WAYS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE, shows that wisdom is still being generated. Among his thoughts are " 'You get what you give'…be an earth-saver…visit a nursing home…don't duck your civic responsibilities…help create a sense of community…don't fool yourself…don't let age be a barrier to doing good things, to dreaming." A recent book by Harold Bloom about where wisdom might be found names writers as diverse as Homer and Freud, Shakespeare and Proust, Montaigne and Augustine. Wisdom has been collected for millennia and is there for us to learn and benefit from it. Wisdom teaches us how to live well. There are many ways of organizing the wisdom of the ages. Let me offer three such ways. First, wisdom is about justice. Roland Murphy, in his Anchor Bible Dictionary article on the Wisdom Literature of the Hebrew Bible, tells us that that Literature, indeed much of the Hebrew Bible, is about the search for order or justice. The sages who wrote these texts often felt they had found such an order, but more commonly, according to Murphy, they would "impose an order on experience…present conclusions drawn from observation." The book of Job, for example, is about the stark facts of life on this planet, that it is frequently whimsical and cruel, that the good do not always get their just reward, that God does not answer when we ask why there is such misery and unfairness. Job was a good man to whom the worst happened. His friends tried to persuade him that he must have done something unutterably awful to have been punished with such devastation. He knew that that was not true. When God finally spoke to him, Job did not receive an answer, only the sure knowledge that "I have spoken what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know." Job comes to see that a wise person understands that life is full of uncertainty and mystery and that some questions, ask them though we will, will not produce answers. I am sure that there are many among those who lost their lives, their possessions, their relatives and friends in the tsunami of a couple of weeks ago who knew or know that they did not deserve the horrible disaster that completely changed their lives. This was not an act of justice for the sins of those who were killed or injured or who lost their livelihood or those dear to them. This was just another example of the fact that nature is sometimes kind but sometimes stupendously malevolent. The rich at posh resorts, the poor in simple fishing villages, the ordinary and the extraordinary were all swept up in that vast wave of water without discrimination. Death is no respecter of person. Therefore, our wisdom literature tells us, we must be. One of the central defining passages of the prophetic texts of Judaism is Micah 6:8: "…what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God." Justice is our first responsibility. I have always assumed that is because the ancient prophets understood that justice will not, indeed cannot, happen without us. It is not built into the structure of things except as we put it there. Justice assures order and harmony, injustice chaos and hostility. Justice is not a theoretical concern. The words are clear that we are to "do justice," not just think about it. If there is no deity manipulating human events to satisfy some divine plan, then we are the ones charged with the duty of making this life fair. Even many of those who believe there is a loving God in heaven, a loving God with whom they can have contact, agree that the task of doing the work of justice is ours. "God helps those who help themselves." Some years ago there was an award given in Honolulu called the George Award. The George Award was given to someone who was not waiting for George to do some important task of civic responsibility; this person just got that task done. George, of course, is a pseudonym for God, for that someone other than me who will do what is needful. The wisdom of human experience is that the more of us who will take on the role of George, the more likely we are to have a decent society. The ancient Chinese sage Lao-tse taught the importance of every person in the bringing about of a peaceful world, and only in a peaceful world can justice thrive. He wrote more than 2500 years ago that "If there is to be peace in the world, there must be peace in the nations. If there is to be peace in the nations, there must be peace in the cities. If there is to be peace in the cities, there must be peace between neighbors. If there is to be peace between neighbors, there must be peace in the home. If there is to be peace in the home, there must be peace in the heart." Nahjul Balagha, a great Islamic teacher, wrote that "My mission today is the same as it was at the time of the Prophet, I shall strive till I eradicate impiety and injustice, and till I establish a rule of justice and truth, a humane and heavenly regime." The wisdom of humanity recognizes that we must do the work of justice. Nicholas Kristof wrote a disturbing column the other day titled "Land of Penny Pinchers." He describes American aid given to other countries as truly stingy. It amounts to 21 cents of governmental and private aid for every $100 of national income. We are the least generous of 22 top donor countries, the list of which is led by Denmark at 84 cents and Holland at 80 cents. We spend on soft drinks four times or more what we contribute in aid to other, much poorer countries. Kristof cites various economists who estimate that if we spent only $2-$3 billion to curb malaria, we could save more than one million lives every year. Think of it: if we only spent twice as much on soda pop as we do on aid, thousands, maybe millions could, if we directed the money to them, be spared the ravages of a bad disease. That would be a very just arrangement, would it not? Justice is ultimately about fairness, a fair system of opportunity, a fair system of distribution, a fair system of sharing responsibility. In our present global society, there are vast imbalances that call for change. In our own country, there are abundant inequities. In the individual lives of people everywhere are rank injustices. The wisdom of the ages tells us that our work is to correct the imbalances, the inequities, the injustices. Our work is the work of justice. "Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream." (Amos 5:23-24) The wisdom of our species also teaches us that truth matters. Czeslaw Milosz wrote that "Human reason is beautiful and invincible… It establishes the universal ideas in language, And guides our hand so we write Truth and Justice With capital letters, lie and oppression with small…" Truth, like Justice, we write with a capital letter. It is that important. The Jewish tradition teaches that "one who speaks the truth gives honest evidence"( Proverbs 12:17) and that "truthful lips endure for ever." (Proverbs 12:19) The New Testament speaks of truth as necessary for our salvation ( II Thessalonians 2:10), and Jesus taught that "you will know the truth and the truth will make you free." (John 8:32) The Sikhs teach that "falsehood shall be destroyed; truth in the end shall prevail" (Adi Granth, Ramkali-ki-Var, M.1, p.953) and the Hindus that "truth is victorious, never untruth. Truth is the way; truth is the goal of life." (Mundaka Upanishad 3.1.6) Albert Einstein wrote of truth as one of "the ideals which have lighted me on my way and time after time given me new courage to face life cheerfully." ("The World As I see It") Truth matters. How can we live in the world if we do not know at least some of the truth about the way the world operates? We must know the truth about poisonous plants lest they kill us. We must know the truth about gravity lest unaided we try to fly and crash into the ground with grave consequences. We must know the truth about the principles of engineering and construction or our bridges will collapse, our buildings fall down, and our roads be useless. A participant in the courageous struggle of the Czech people some 30 years ago to free themselves from the yoke of oppression recalled how a group of dissidents came to understand that the truth is important enough to risk imprisonment, impoverishment, and even death. In a society that hid from the truth, the only hope was to live the truth regardless of the cost. One of the challenges of our own society is our sometimes slipshod approach to truth. How many people really care whether the advertisements they are bombarded with speak the truth? How many people care that the men and women hawking products are being paid huge sums of money to tout products that they would without hesitation trade for another product if paid enough money to do so? If we do not know the truth about the products we buy, how can we judge what is good and bad, healthy and unhealthy, a bargain or a rip-off? How many people care about the lies our elected officials tell us? Truth is only a small part of the American political scene, and we are the worse for it. I remember Mr. Eisenhower lying about U-2 flights and Kennedy lying about what was going on in Cuba and Johnson lying about the Tonkin Gulf incident of 1965 and Nixon lying about the bombing of Cambodia and lie after lie by their successors down to the present incumbent. If our politicians do not speak the truth—without evasion, without misdirection, without deception—how can we choose one candidate over another or approve or disagree with one policy or another with any measure of assurance that our decision is a good one? How can we have a democracy without the truth? We must know the truth about human beings lest we work grievous harm upon them. We must know the truth that people need each other so we reach out to one another as kin or as friend. We must know that part of any relationship is trust, and that betrayal of that trust is a terrible thing. We must understand the truth that protecting and nurturing children is essential for each individual child and for a society to be worthy and to feel secure. That is the challenge of the Roman Catholic Church in these years after the revelation of what dreadful abuses were committed by some of their priests and too often covered up by their bishops The wisdom of the ages is right—without truth, human society is impossible. A caveat is necessary. We cannot know all the truth, so we must be modest in our claims and be open to new truth. Michael Green puts it well: "we should never be so arrogant as to suppose that the truth is no bigger than our understanding of it." That is the message of the ancient Jain fable about the six blind men and the elephant. Each thinks he has the whole truth in proclaiming that the elephant is a wall, a spear, a snake, a tree, a fan, a rope. In reality, each had only a part of the whole of the elephant—a side, a tusk, the trunk, a knee, an ear, the tail. The importance of truth is part of the heritage of wisdom. Love is the third great teaching of human wisdom. Hinduism instructs us that "you need to show compassion to all living things" (Basavanna, Vacana 247) and Jainism says the same thing in these words, "Have benevolence toward all living beings." (Tattvarthasuttra 7.11) The 67th teaching in the Tao Te Ching includes these words: "I have three treasures…The first is deep love…Because of deep love, one is courageous…For deep love helps one to win in case of attack, and to be firm in the case of defense. When Heaven is to save a person, Heaven will protect that person through deep love." Muslims believe that "All human creatures are God's children, and those dearest to God are those who treat those children kindly." (Hadith of Baihaqi) One of the oldest Jewish commandments is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might," love, that is, the highest and the best we can know or imagine. (Deuteronomy 6:5) Jews were also enjoined to "love your neighbor as yourself." (Leviticus 19:18) Jesus used both of these Jewish commandments in his teachings,, and in the Gospel of John said more simply, "Love one another." (John 13:34) We know of nothing wiser today. Marilyn vos Savant, well named as she has one of the highest I.Q.'s ever recorded, was asked in one of her columns in Parade magazine what the essence of wisdom was. Her response: "I think 'love of mankind' is the essence of wisdom." Dennis Overbye published an article in the New York Times a few weeks ago about "the strongest force in the universe…I'd like to convince you," he wrote, " at the possible cost of my reputation as a cold-eyed observer of cosmic affairs, that it is love." He then tells the story of a squirrel at his girlfriend's house who had deposited her babies in a crawl space under the peak of the roof. To get those babies out of the elements, the squirrel had chewed its way through a vent. A friend came and put a new vent in, only to realize that the babies were sealed inside. The squirrel came back day after day and chewed at that new vent, glaring at Overbye whenever he came out to interrupt the desperate effort to get at her babies. In time they trapped the babies and the mother and took them to a new home in the woods far away. But Overbye writes, "That squirrel's glare still haunts me. Especially now that I'm a parent myself." Love is such a powerful force that it can extend beyond our immediate circle of family and friends to the whole of humanity, including strangers. Sam Harris tells a story of encountering a group of men trying to force a woman against her will into a car on a street in Prague. He did not speak Czech, he was clearly outnumbered, but he wanted to help, so he began to talk to the ringleader. "Excuse me. I seem to have lost my hotel, my lodging, my place of residence, where I lie supine, not prone.. Can you help me? Where is it? Where is it?" "Sex?" the man asked, outraged at being interrupted. "No! Not sex. I am looking for a specific building. It has no aluminum siding or stained glass. It could be filled with marzipan. Do you know where it is? This is an emergency." As the man, now engaged in Harris's seeming problem, began talking to the others in Czech, he let loose of the woman, who fled down the street. Harris continued with his gibberish a bit longer, and then took himself off. He did not know the woman nor did he ever see her again. But she was a fellow human being in trouble, and his love for humanity led him to act in a most courageous fashion to rescue her. He is not alone. Men and women risk their lives every day to save others whom they do not know. It is part of the human bond that enables us to live together, knowing that people care, that in a time of desperate need—the current terrible damage wrought by the tsunami, for example—people will respond. Such love is the essential ingredient in human society. Can such love extend to those who are our enemies? Jesus thought so, and taught that we should love our enemies. Surely there is no more difficult moral task than loving our enemies, and just as surely there is no more important task. if the world is to survive. We are so massively and dangerously armed that love—together with justice and truth—is our only hope. But how can we love our enemy? One thing we can do to move towards such a hard love is to "make something beautiful, so the enemy will have one less place to stand." So argues Barry Lopez in his passionate novel RESISTANCE. In a world that too often wants to polarize everybody, finding a way to make something beautiful breaks down the polarizations of belief, politics, fashion, race, and a hundred others. Paint a lovely picture. Compose a tuneful song. Write a moving poem. Better, raise a loving child and be a loving person. What is more beautiful than that? Every time we make something beautiful, there is less room for anger, less room for contempt, less room for hatred. Bertrand Russell was right: "to love is wise, to hate is foolish" Humanity has always known this and always taught it. It is a lesson we need to learn over and over again. The wisdom of countless millennia comes down to us in many forms, three of which I have discussed this morning: justice, truth, and love. It is not a scarcity of wisdom that afflicts us, but a scarcity of will to act on what we know to be true. We know that economic inequity is an affront to human dignity, but we allow the rich to get richer and the poor to go on suffering. We know that truth is more valuable than ignorance, but we cling to our myths and our prejudices and our ideologies at all costs, and the costs are high. We know that parents should love and care for their children, but some do not. We know that war is evil, but we find endless excuses to go on killing each other. Despite our failures, despite a world burdened with sadness and despair, wise people remember the delight of the world and rejoice in it. Mary Oliver is wise. "Every day I see or hear something that more or less kills me with delight, that leaves me like a needle in the haystack of light. It is what I was born for— to look, to listen, to lose myself inside this soft world— to instruct myself over and over in joy, and acclamation. Nor am I talking about the exceptional, the fearful, the dreadful, the very extravagant— but of the ordinary, the common, the very drab, the daily presentations. Oh, good scholar, I say to myself, how can you help but grow wise with such teachings as these— the untrimmable light of the world, the ocean's shine, the prayers that are made out of grass?" Mindful in WHY I WAKE EARLY Copyright 2005, Kenneth W. Phifer All rights reserved BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Thomas Cleary, translator and presenter, THE ESSENTIAL TAO, HarperSanFrancisco, 1991. 2. Albert Einstein, Translated by Alan Harris, THE WORLD AS I SEE IT, Philosophical Library, 1949. 3. Sam Harris, THE END OF FAITH: RELIGION, TERROR, AND THE FUTURE OF REASON, W.W. Norton and Company, 2004. 4. Francine Klagsburn, VOICES OF WISDOM: JEWISH IDEALS AND ETHICS FOR EVERYDAY LIVING, Pantheon Books, 1980. 5. International Religious Foundation, WORLD SCRIPTURE: A COMPARATIVE ANTHOLOGY OF SACRED TEXTS, Paragon House, 1991. 6. Barry Lopez, RESISTANCE, Alfred A. Knopf, 2004. 7. Czeslaw Milosz, NEW AND COLLECTED POEMS 1931-2001, HarperCollins Publishers, 2001 8. Mary Oliver, WHY I WAKE EARLY, Beacon press, 2004. 9. Vernon Ruland, S.J., IMAGINING THE SACRED: SOUNDINGS IN WORLD RELIGIONS, Orbis Books, 1998. 10. Paul Simon, FIFTY-TWO SIMPLE WAYS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE, Augsburg Books, 2004. 12