We probably need to talk about the difference between this Wisdom and the wisdom of the world. It seems to me that the center of the wisdom of "community," even a "spiritual community" as taught by the world today differs radically from what our readings suggest. Gianni Vattimo in a book After Christianity speaks about this "new" postmodern spirituality. In our world, he argues that "since God can no longer be upheld as an ultimate foundation, as the absolute metaphysical structure of the real, it is possible, once again, to believe in God" (p. 5). He goes one to talk about this "faith": "The concept of postmodern faith has nothing to do with the acceptance of strictly defined dogmas or with disciplines imposed by a single authority. The Church is certainly as important vehicle for revelation, but it is above all the community of believers who, in charity, hear and interpret freely the meaning of the Christian message, mutually helping and correcting one another. It is an idea of Church, found in many Romantic thinkers such as Novalis and Schleiermacher" (p. 8-9). In other words, there is no center outside the individual "religious experience" of individuals with common spiritual interests sharing with each other, who are free to share their own experiences with each other as they seek to accomodate themselves to their contemporary world and personal histories. It is a "pluralism without center" (p. 16).

This is a good thing for Vattimo that we should welcome with open arms (i.e., charity) with all the choices and "freedom" that we gain from the importance of experience that only we can judge as the source of wisdom. He writes, "If we do not welcome the appeal of aesthetic emancipation offered to us by the new condition of existence, it is because we are still oppressed by the letter – the literalism of the sacred texts (the fetish of fundamentalism of all sorts) and the world’s materiality, the unsatisfied needs and injustices in the distribution of goods that are indispensable to life" (p. 56). By denying the literalness of the biblical text and the significance of the world's materiality, we can find the joys of community without center in the pluralistic sharing and support for our experiences.

Now let's turn to our passages.

Proverbs 9:1-6

Lady Wisdom in a house owner and prominent person in this passage. What does Lady Wisdom do? What are her resources? (ie, the more pillars the bigger the house) Whom does she invite? To what? Why? To come in and dine, what must take place? Why? Why would the eating the bread of Wisdom leave immaturity behind? What is the difference between maturity and immaturity?

Ephesians 5:15-20

Why should we "be careful then how you live"? Why is wisdom important? Where does one find wisdom? Where does one find the "will of the Lord"? Where does foolishness arise? Why would the text substitute fulness of the Spirit as a replacement to drunkness with wine? How does this relate to "wisdom" and "foolishness"? Of coure, the word "giving thanks" is from the Greek root word, "eucharist," -- the giving of thanks. On sees, then, that this passage describes Christian worship as the center of Wisdom, with Eucharist (the allusion to wine) at the center. Why give thanks to "God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ"? Why is God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ the center of wisdom in thanksgiving?

John 6:53-59

What does Jesus allude to in this passage of eating his flesh and drinking his blood? Is this "symbolic" or "real" or neither or both? What happens in the eating of his flesh and drinking of his blood? When does eternal life for the believer take place? How does it take place? How is Jesus the Wisdom that one finds in Proverbs 9?

Now it might be good to compare the gathering of the spiritual community for Vattimo with that presupposed in John 6 and Ephesians 5 as mediated through Proverbs 9? What is necessary for us to leave immaturity behind and move to maturity? Why do we gather?

Have a wonderful discussion!