As Kingfishers Catch Fire by Eugene H. Peterson

Author:Eugene H. Peterson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2017-05-15T16:00:00+00:00

But obviously I have changed my mind. As in so many instances of wrongheaded prejudice, my position was not so much the result of wrong information as it was of inadequate information. The things I observed about Proverbs were true enough, but there are some other things to be reckoned into the picture too. And once they were in the picture, everything had a new look.

To begin with, I learned there was a huge tradition of wisdom in the civilizations bordering the Hebrews: Babylonia to the east and Egypt to the west. The Hebrews were familiar with and appreciative of these wisdom traditions. Many of these wise sayings were incorporated in their own Proverbs, some word for word. Even their own Solomon became named among the wise.

Until this time I assumed that priests and prophets dominated the worship and prayer life of Israel. Priest and prophet became working companions for me as I lived out my vocation as pastor. The prophets were the preachers declaring God’s Word. They spoke the word of God in a challenging way to the people. They were very public movers and shapers of events by their words. I did that every Sunday from my pulpit. The priests led their congregation in worship and prayer. I did that every Sunday in our sanctuary. But the wise didn’t have a job, a function. They didn’t have a place or a title. They had reputations respected by the people they lived among, reputations for understanding the human condition. But I had no reputation; I was far too young. So I began looking around for wise men and women.

It didn’t take me long to find them. The first I came upon was Dr. James Wall. I was new as a pastor, an associate pastor. The first summer of my work while the senior pastor was on vacation, I led worship and preached. Dr. Wall, the lead psychiatrist at the local mental hospital, sat with his wife in the front pew each Sunday. He was a large man, hard to miss. And, of course, I was intimidated. He always sat with his eyes closed. I assumed he was sleeping. But in the middle of my sermon in the third week, he opened one eye and smiled with approval at something I said. I was no longer intimidated; he was on my side. All that summer of preaching, when I encountered something I didn’t understand and didn’t know how to handle, I called Dr. Wall and he led me through it. I knew that he was one of the wise and that I could count on him for counsel. He told me once that he was a pastor to people without a church. Through the years I have gradually realized that the wise are all around me, and I have let myself by guided by them, often through their books.

I quit sorting books and magazines and journals into Christian and secular, with a preference for Christian. I read the secular, of course, but not with the same attention as the Christian.

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