Of course in this story Old Turtle is the voice of wisdom, the voice which integrates all the thoughts and opinions of the other creatures to offer a perspective that brings them together rather than divides. Some turtles live for hundreds of years, so we have this image of creatures who have seen it all, who slowly and surely win the race. And, wouldn’t you know it, Old Turtle is now a musical, or at least there is a musical version called Song of Wisdom from Old Turtle.

How do we define wisdom? A dictionary definition of wisdom is:

1. The ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting; insight.

2. Common sense; good judgment:

3. a. The sum of learning through the ages; knowledge:

b. Wise teachings of the ancient sages.

4. A wise outlook, plan, or course of action.

Wisdom and being wise are also very important biblical concepts and this morning we listened again to a portion of the letter to the Ephesians which speaks this time about the importance of being wise rather than foolish. The writer encourages his readers to be filled with the Holy Spirit rather than alcoholic spirits. He tells people to worship together and to sing lots of hymns, so that “making melody to the Lord in your hearts” will allow the message of Christ’s love can really take hold.

While we have been reading in the gospel of John during the summer it seemed to make sense to read the parable of Jesus which we find in Matthew and Luke where he describes wisdom in terms of someone building a house. The wise builder is willing to scrape down to bedrock and set the foundation there. It won’t matter what storms come along, the house will stay put. But if you go with the Fly-By-Night construction company your house may float away right before your eyes. Jesus uses this little story to illustrate how challenging it can be to follow the narrow way he speaks about.

In the bible the principle of wisdom certainly affirms what we see above, but it also has a lot to do with the relationship we develop with God, a relationship that often requires us to make those decisions about whom we want to be as individual persons and as a community. In the bible wisdom is more of an innate compass than on an onboard GPS. Your Global Positioning System will tell you the shortest distance between two points. Using a compass requires that you develop other skills to help you find your way. A wise person recognizes that humility is a tremendous asset in developing that spiritual compass, and so is developing the ability to listen for God’s direction.

I almost missed something in these two passages. Both of them contrast wisdom with foolishness. Someone who is foolish is rash or irresponsible or reckless.

Would you say we live in a time of great wisdom? While there is no doubt that God’s Song of Wisdom is still being sung, there seems to be many competing tunes that makes it a little difficult to pick up the melody. In many respects this is the best time in human history to be alive and there seems to be unending advancements in technology which enhance our health and personal lifestyles. But I think we understand that this isn’t the same as being wise in the way that the bible perceives wisdom.

Unfortunately we are inclined to confuse power and cleverness with wisdom. We are regularly reminded that individuals who are supposedly very smart do very stupid things which not only destroy their careers, they undermine their most important relationships.

There has been a steady parade of public and not-so public figures from virtually every sector of society who treat us to their tearful mea culpa’s in front of the cameras. Do you remember former New York State Governor Eliot Spitzer? Spitzer began his impressive rise to power as a hotshot district attorney who fearlessly fought crime in New York City, including organized prostitution rings. Before he was fifty years old Spitzer was governor of New York State and people talked about him running for president one day.

Then the New York Times broke the news that Eliot Spitzer had regularly used a prostitution ring himself. A few days later, with his very unhappy wife at his side, he admitted his wrongdoing and listened to his career and reputation crash to the ground. This very smart man’s personal choices were definitely not wise.

God forbid that we should ever be in a similar situation, but there are times when it feels as though control of our lives is slipping away from us and we wonder how that has happened. We have figured out how to communicate with one another in the blink of an eye, and we can find information about just about anything at the same lightning speed but it doesn’t mean we are wise. If anything the information age we live in with its lightning speed tends to confuse us. How do we possibly make sense of it all?

Whenever I consider the wise men and women I have known through my lifetime, I think of people who thoughtfully and prayerfully made their way through the years building a strong, and enduring relationship with God. I have been blessed to meet a number of wise women and men through my years of ministry, but the one who usually comes to mind when I come upon a passage of scripture about wisdom was a parishioner whose first name was Harm. Some of you will have heard me mention Harm before and will know that he and his wife emigrated to Canada from Holland after the Second World War. Harm had a less than glamorous job looking after one of those huge industrial chicken barns. He was what Jerry Seinfeld would call a “close talker” – he would get right up in your face in a conversation and if you took a step back, he would just get closer. Not only that, he was loud, and he had a big laugh that sounded a lot like a car alarm. Not your usual candidate for a wise person. Rather than acting like a wise old turtle he was more like a jumpy squirrel.

Yet Harm was wise. As time went on, I realized that he was thinking all the time, pondering the way the world worked. More importantly he loved God – if anyone could have been described as a Godly person it was Harm. He rarely missed worship and he read his bible daily. At bible study he always seemed to go a bit deeper into the passage than the rest of us, not because he had any theological education but because he seemed to hang out with God a lot and was a good listener when they were together. He was an Old Turtle kind of guy.

Well, we might be inclined to ask, so how do we get this wisdom show on the road? Really, who wants to be a fool? I’m sure we realize, though, that there really isn’t any fast track to learning the Song of Wisdom. It would be great if we could just download it like a tune we want to put on an MP3 player. Finding our way into wisdom is much more like learning to sing or to play a complex musical piece ourselves. That requires repetition to learn the notes and then interpretation of the piece to allow it to be unique. I have heard our music director, Doug, practising with the choir and saying the words “let’s try that again!” on the way to getting things right.

Follow the good example of others. I told you my story of a “wise guy” who influenced my life and in a way still does nearly twenty years after his death. Consider the wise people you have known through your lifetime and ask what qualities they possess that you can emulate.

Trust that practice makes perfect. The best way to grow in Christian wisdom is to establish a set of spiritual practices that will allow you to become stronger and deeper in your faith. We all need to hang out with God, not just vaguely claim to believe in God.

Accept that you are wiser in a circle with others than you can be by yourself. I meet with a group of women for bible study nearly every Wednesday morning during the year and with other members in study groups from time to time. On Sunday mornings I join with you in praise and prayer. After decades of doing these things in different congregations I am still regularly awakened to the importance of collective wisdom, of the insights and outlook of those who are on the Christian journey with me.

There is another passage on wisdom in the third chapter of the little book called the letter of James, which tends to be really practical and down-to-earth about how we live out our Christian faith: