Eyes

A Reflection on the First Reading for October 10th, 2021:
Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Wisdom
7.7-11

I prayed, and understanding was given me;
I called on God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.

I preferred her to sceptres and thrones,
and I accounted wealth as nothing in comparison with her.
Neither did I liken to her any priceless gem,
because all gold is but a little sand in her sight,
and silver will be accounted as clay before her.

I loved her more than health and beauty,
and I chose to have her rather than light,
because her radiance never ceases.
All good things came to me along with her,
and in her hands uncounted wealth.
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Looking at the boxes in the games closet, each person has a different view on whether luck or strategy should win the day. Apples to Apples is one of the few where all minds meet. A box full of cards is opened — each green one bearing an adjective, and each red one a noun. We each are dealt a fistful of nouns to keep hidden from the others — anything from Pumpkins to Peter O’Toole. Each round one of us in the circle draws a green adjective and speaks it out. All others look at our nouns and decide which one best fits this adjective before us. Not which matches in our mind, but the mind of the person holding the green card. It’s a game where you lean into someone else’s way of thinking. The judge of the round shuffles the small stack of red cards offered, considers, chooses and awards the chosen noun back to the player who offered it, as a prize. First to gather 5 red cards wins.


One day I was losing badly. I hadn’t won a single round. No one was choosing the nouns I offered, and I couldn’t blame them. I’d been dealt a bum hand — every time I offered a noun I felt like I was making a Hail Mary pass. Then my teenage son became the judge and drew “essential”. And I knew I had it. I might not win the game, but I would win this round and stop the shutout. I slipped my card upside down into the loose pile in front of him, hiding the word “eyes” from sight. What could be more essential than eyes? He shuffled the cards and read each out loud, placing them back on the table in one of two piles — either a-quick-no or let-me-think-about-it. Only two made it past the post, so this seventeen year old is sitting and considering what is really essential. Music or eyes. He makes his choice and tosses away “eyes” into the discard pile. He would rather give up light than live without music.




“… I chose to have her rather than light.”




Solomon called on God, and this is who came
her
the spirit of wisdom
the Spirit of Wisdom




Holy Spirit, what would I give up rather than live without You? I’ve let too many filters fall in the way, each creating a block of glass that bends Your light, blurring the sight that is Light and Life to me. I’m tired. I’m wearing thin inside and I’ve taken to counting on other transient things as protective padding, rather than being filled by You.


Sceptres and thrones — the position I’m seen holding in the eyes of others
Gold and silver — the craving for ease and comfort
Health and beauty — the preservation of what can be felt and touched


And so, my Lord, my Love, my All, I come again to You.
I come
I cry
I watch
I wait
I look
I long
for You.




Noreen Smith

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