Echoes Of Wisdom

Nothing that is worth doing

can be achieved in our lifetime;

therefore we must be saved by hope.

Nothing which is true or beautiful or good

makes complete sense in any immediate context of history;

therefore we must be saved by faith.

Nothing we do, however virtuous,

can be accomplished alone;

therefore we must be saved by love.

No virtuous act is quite as virtuous

from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint.

Therefore we must be saved by the final form of love

which is forgiveness.

Reinhold Niebuhr 1897 – 1971

Here they were, inscribed on the back cover of a memorial folder celebrating the life of a member of our community. I was reminded of these echoes of wisdom first penned by Reinhold Niebuhr, a 20th century theologian, who shaped my ministry as well as the lives and ministries of a host of those whose theological postures were formed in the last two or three generations.

I encountered them again in the middle of the very next night! I could not sleep, and decided to sit up for a while and watch television. Flipping through the infomercials, the main TV diet in the wee hours, I ran across a biography of Reinhold Niebuhr which concluded with the very same words I had encountered just hours before! A coincidence? Perhaps, but this “coincidence” has caused me to write about how Niebuhr has spoken to me.

Over the years I have often recalled these words as I have sought to understand the implications of my deepest thoughts about life. That sort of inner contemplation is what I mean by prayer, that for me is not just chatting with somebody out there. These echoes of wisdom encompass what it means to live faithfully. They are not only the substantial articulation of Christian spirituality, but also might be central to any secular summary of the essential wisdom about existence. I commend them to anyone who might be reading them here. Perhaps you could add them to your storehouse of memorized wisdom so they would be readily available whenever you contemplate what life means.

Anything I might add would be fatuous,

so I will just let them speak to you without further comment from me.