ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
May 26, 2026
Barbara Brown Taylor wrote, “Wisdom is not gained by knowing what is right. Wisdom is gained by practicing what is right, and noticing what happens when that practice succeeds and when it fails.” This makes sense. Recently, I was talking to someone who had done something she believed to be right, and I would even describe it as Christ-like. It sort of came back to bite her as many people found it to be a bit threatening to their faith. She was second-guessing herself, yet wisdom is, as Barbara Brown Taylor suggests, what one gains from doing what is right and noticing how it is received. It doesn’t mean we change our convictions or choose to never do what we had done again. Instead, wisdom has us asking good questions and thinking how to remain bold in those convictions while also offering onramps for those who might, with some small tweaks to our approach, see things differently. Wisdom is awareness to the presence of the Holy Spirit that is always helping us to see through a lens of creativity how to move ahead while also being gracious to those who may see things differently.
Provide me wisdom, O Sacred and Sanctifying Spirit. And in that wisdom, I hope to find humility and grace, the very things that others were willing to show when I was a bit apprehensive about choosing what was right and good and Christ-like. Amen.
