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Morning Meditation
October 20, 2026
Reading: Sirach 6:5-17
Pleasant speech multiplies friends,
and a gracious tongue multiplies courtesies.
Let those who are friendly with you be many,
but let your advisers be one in a thousand.
When you gain friends, gain them through testing,
and do not trust them hastily.
For there are friends who are such when it suits them,
but they will not stand by you in time of trouble.
And there are friends who change into enemies,
and tell of the quarrel to your disgrace.
And there are friends who sit at your table,
but they will not stand by you in time of trouble.
When you are prosperous, they become your second self,
and lord it over your servants;
but if you are brought low, they turn against you,
and hide themselves from you.
Keep away from your enemies,
and be on guard with your friends.
Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter:
whoever finds one has found a treasure.
Faithful friends are beyond price;
no amount can balance their worth.
Faithful friends are life-saving medicine;
and those who fear the Lord will find them.
Those who fear the Lord direct their friendship aright,
for as they are, so are their neighbours also.
Meditation-Rebecca Northington
“Wisdom literature” included in the Protestant canon are Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. Ecclesiasticus, or The Book of Sirach and the Book of Wisdom or the Wisdom of Solomon- are included in the non-canonical section of the Protestant Bible called the Apocrypha. Sirach was written between 196-175 BCE, in the second temple era. It is the longest wisdom book at 51 chapters, and like the others, deals with real daily human issues of love, family, friendship, work, money, sin, aging, suffering, death, God and virtue. Wisdom literature is poetic and oftentimes full of metaphors and proverbs, offering direction and insight. The Wisdom books do not focus on the story, the laws, or the prophecy of Israel. These books step away from the sweeping narrative of humanity and move into the intimate workings of what it means to be a human on the ground and in the weeds.
Last Sunday in confirmation class, we began our discussion of Genesis. In less than 45 minutes, we covered seduction and betrayal, fratricide, emotional and physical abandonment, neglect, jealousy, environmental catastrophe, war, burning cities, forgiveness, reconciliation, lust, sexual assault, vengeance, slaughter, romance and every kind of love. In just the first book of the Bible nearly every facet of the human story is revealed, inspiring authors, poets, artists and filmmakers ever since. These accounts of our human failings and human accomplishments continue to play out in the news each day. Nations war, cities burn, floods wreak havoc, women are assaulted, crowds react – and all the while we humans continue to judge from the sidelines; adjudicating those we find guilty based on nothing more than a soundbite or simple gossip. A tale as old as time. Genesis is worth revisiting for all it tells us about ourselves and our perennial issues.
The tales in scripture are compelling, but so is the practical advice, or “wisdom” found in the Wisdom books. Long before Freud, Jesus, son of Sira, wrote this poignant text found in the Lectionary today, to remind us to be discerning in the cultivation of our relationships. Sycophants may come and go, and usually want something from you, but reliable friends will love you when you are poor, when you are ugly and when you smell. “Faithful friends are beyond price; no amount can balance their worth. Faithful friends are life-saving medicine.”
The kids were shocked Sunday that Genesis included so many illicit stories. I genuinely believe they struggled to reconcile their understanding of what they think scripture is supposed to represent, with the stories we summarized for them. As though the Bible itself could be a banned book. Pretending that we are above the stories, or that the stories don’t exist, is one of the seductions of being human, or of feeling superior. Reckoning with the truth of who we are and what we are capable of, with the companion text of wisdom literature could be a step in the right direction.
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