WHAT DO WE WISH FOR?

Stories and jokes abound about magic lamps from which, when rubbed, come wish-granting genies. The usual script for the genie from the lamp is: “you have three wishes”. Then comes the decision making – what do I wish for? As a boy I thought I had worked it out. First wish: that my second wish is granted. Second wish: that every wish after this be granted. In this way I had a blank check to get whatever I wanted.

And therein lay the difference between my younger self and the young Solomon of today’s first reading. Number one: this was no imaginary genie Solomon was talking to. This was God who had created a people to be a light to the nations and through whom the human race would find its way to full maturity. This was the God of Abraham and Sarah and Hagar, the God of Isaac and Rebekah, the God of Jacob and Rachel and Leah, the God of David and Bathsheba, the parents of Solomon. Number two: Solomon (unlike my younger self) did not ask for “things” for himself, the “things” that would make him feel and look important. Solomon instead asked for a heart that could discern between good and evil. He asked for wisdom. And God gave him what he asked for in such abundance that even to this time people remember the wisdom of Solomon.

Wisdom comes from reflecting on experience and learning from those experiences making the personal changes that wisdom indicates. Truly wise men and women know the treasure they have in the revelation of God that comes through faith in Jesus. This is a source of wisdom available to everyone.

So back to wishing. God asks us each day to name what we want to receive, what we would like God to give us. What is it that you desire most? Is it wisdom that allows you to serve others richly and compassionately or is it some “thing” that will give you a sense of importance.

Fr Adrian Farrelly