Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn her seven pillars. She has slaughtered her animals, she has mixed her wine, she has also set her table. She has sent out her servant girls, she calls from the highest places in town, "You that are simple, turn in here!" To those without sense she says, "Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. Lay aside immaturity, and live, and walk in the way of insight." Proverbs 9: 1 - 6

I love this passage. In it we are told of the work that Wisdom is has done: built her house, hewn her pillars, slaughtered her animals, mixed her wine, and finally Wisdom boldly calls out her invitation to come and eat at her table and be changed. 

Wisdom is often found in the practice of the the spiritual arts which are highly reflective -- Lectio Divina, centering prayer, contemplative reading, perhaps drawing, singing, dancing.  Over time, they make a significant difference in our lives. When we come to Wisdom's house, we will learn to work as she has worked through the ages and in that work we will lay aside our immaturity. 

So, walk in the way of insight, learn, listen, do the next thing the simple thing that may be something you have avoided for a long time, don't only sit in silence.

The Gospel reading at church this week was from John 6:24 - 35. It includes these sentences: "What must we do to perform the works of God?" Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." So they said to him, "What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing?" Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.' 
Then Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." They said to him, "Sir, give us this bead always." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."

Our Old Testament reading included verses from Exodus 16, which told of the Israelites coming upon the "fine, flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground." 

In both stories, the first one that Jesus told and the older one of Moses and Aaron, the people of God appear to me to be humbled. 

Bread from heaven is pretty nice, yet to gather it one must stoop, or sweep it up in one's arms while down on one's knees. God's provision, God's gift appeared after the layer of dew lifted on the surface of the wilderness. 

In John's story, Jesus requires the people following him to move beyond the old, familiar symbol of manna from heaven, to believing that Jesus himself is the bread of life, given to satisfy their hunger and quench their thirst. 

Jesus took their request for the bread of God and gave it back to them, repackaged. Responding to Jesus' instruction to come to him and believe in him requires great humility and imagination.