“Wisdom sings her own praises and is honored in God,
Before her own people she boasts;
in the assembly of the Most High she opens her mouth,
in the presence of his power she declares her worth.”
Sirach 24: 1-2

The quote is from the Lectionary for Mass and is sometimes used for the second Sunday after Christmas. It has a different tone from the Jerusalem Bible’s which more strongly recognizes Wisdom’s power and her stronger unity and relationship with God.

“She opens her mouth in the assembly of the Most High,
she glories in herself in the presence of the Mighty One;
‘I came forth from the mouth of the Most High,
and I covered the earth like mist.
I had my tent in the heights,
and my throne in a pillar of cloud.’”
Ecclesiasticus [also Sirach] 24: 2-4


How often we rely on the mothering power of Wisdom to get us through days that alternate between being frenetically stuffed with affairs and, then, empty as an upturned box. To be close to Wisdom is to be close to one who acts, who nurtures, who is close to God. It is also to be close to one who thinks of goodness and meditates on the needs of others.

There was time, this last week, to think about the breath of Wisdom and the breath of life as I sat with my dying Mother-in-law. She is the last of my children’s grandparents to die. I felt Time's softness settle as her hand, so strong and so busy for so many years, was puffy and still in my hand. It would, at times, give a gentle tightening as though to tell me she knew I was there. We were quiet together.

I will confess, I had come with papers to grade (since I have trouble disconnecting from work), and I tried to grade a few. In over two hours time, I finished one and one/half papers. Being present for Edith consumed my time. Her hands surprised me, for they were so different from what were hands.

Edith’s hands were strong. When I first met Edith, she had an ancient typewriter set against the dining room windows, there she typed notes and letters. She had an awl for punching tag board and other heavy papers and cardboards for mounting her various competition buttons. She sewed, gardened, baked, taught Latin and Greek. She was willing to speak on a number of subjects: her trips to Europe, Uniforms and uniform buttons, paper dolls and other antiques. Her voice and her hands were always in use.

As she grew into her late 90s, my husband reminded the children when they were going to visit, “hold her hand when you talk to her, she likes that.” And that became more and more true as her eyesight and hearing continued to fade. Holding Edith’s hand seemed to make communication so much clearer. Her hands continued to have a strong grip, and she continued to use her hands in the pottery class and doing other crafts. She was prolific in making things.

I accept my loss of my mother-in-law, and I think of my own mother’s voice that sometimes rests with the strength of memory’s hands on my ears. They were women of presence and action, strong grandmothers to my children.

I think of them as I think of the breath of Wisdom that moves like a mist, the song of Wisdom that boasts and declares her worth to be present before God. It is a daily resolution to live in the breath of life and strive for Wisdom.

The photograph shows Edith reviewing a book with her granddaughter Beth and great-grandson Shane. Edith died Jan 17th; two months shy of her 100th birthday.