.004 amazingly wise

I love Feinberg's personal story of being surprised at the wisdom that came from her own lips. I'm partial to this particular story because I'm a little jealous of the wisdom she was given. I've been stuck in similar situations myself and haven't received a pearl of wisdom like this one in my predicaments!

If you haven't read it, she's telling the story of being asked, "What gives you the right, as a woman, to get up and speak to this audience, which includes me, and talk regarding anything having to do with Scripture?" Her answer (that came from someplace beyond her): "Because I am his daughter" (p. 76-7). AMEN!

That's what gives any of us the right to speak about God or scripture. By virtue of being God's children, we're qualified to speak of God and susceptible to speaking wisdom.

If I may stray from our text and get very Methodist for a moment.... John Wesley, Father of the Methodist Church, recognized the importance of each person's experience of God. One result of Wesley's teachings (still firmly rooted in his Anglican roots) is what's now known as the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. The four parts of scripture, tradition, reason, and experience give us lenses through which to view the world. Combined, we get a well-rounded understanding of how Christians might live faithfully.

This mini-soapbox is the result of my experience of being discounted as both a woman and a young adult. I find that, time and again, my experience is doubted, questioned, or altogether discounted on the basis of age and/or gender. It's terribly frustrating! (Question my knowledge of scripture, challenge my book-learning of tradition, or disagree with my reasoning, but let me have my experience!)

I'm grateful to have it pointed out here that wisdom can be spoken by those who are willing to be vessels--and usually comes through us when we least expect it.

What about your experience? When have you been a vessel through which wisdom flowed?