Scripture Focus: Proverbs 8.23-29
23 I was formed long ages ago, 
at the very beginning, when the world came to be. 
24 When there were no watery depths, I was given birth, 
when there were no springs overflowing with water; 
25 before the mountains were settled in place, 
before the hills, I was given birth, 
26 before he made the world or its fields 
or any of the dust of the earth. 
27 I was there when he set the heavens in place, 
when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, 
28 when he established the clouds above 
and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, 
29 when he gave the sea its boundary 
so the waters would not overstep his command, 
and when he marked out the foundations of the earth.

Reflection: Lady Wisdom
By John Tillman

We sometimes think of Proverbs as a collection of unrelated quips and quotes. Most people have probably quoted proverbs as proof-texts of indisputable facts of wisdom. We can reach into Proverbs as if it was a heap of fortune cookie sayings and pull from the pile a pithy quip to punch up an argument. It’s not that Proverbs doesn’t provide wise sayings. It does. But Proverbs also contains narratives that mirror the larger biblical story.

The writer speaks in the voice of a father teaching a child and uses characters who speak to illustrate his lessons. After the cloying voice of the temptress, and vivid descriptions of her hapless victims, a new voice speaks out in Proverbs—Lady Wisdom.

The description of Lady Wisdom reflects on the creation account of Genesis. There are metaphorical parallels in her description that apply to God, God’s Spirit, or even to Jesus as the Logos that John spoke of who created the world (John 1.1-4). However, this passage is not describing a member of the triune God or a separate, literal, spiritual being. Lady Wisdom is a personification of one of God’s qualities. It is one of the many places in which God, or an aspect of God, is described in explicitly feminine terms.

Wisdom and folly are competing voices. These women, the temptress of folly and the mistress of wisdom, represent a choice being set before all people. This choice echoes back to God’s words as the people entered the promised land: “I have set before you life and death.” (Deuteronomy 30.19-20) They echo the choice described when humans were placed in Eden: “you must not eat from the tree…when you eat from it you will certainly die.: (Genesis 2.17) 

The writer is using these metaphorical women’s voices to instruct his students: “There are choices before you. Choose life.”

“Does not wisdom call out?” (Proverbs 8.1) She does, indeed. And those with ears to hear will hear her call. The narrative of proverbs is one in which one generation is training another to hear wisdom’s voice. Let us train our ears to hear the voice of wisdom. Let us be proactive, as the writer of proverbs is, to train others to recognize the difference between the keening voice of folly and wail of wisdom. “Why will you die?” (Ezekiel 33.11) God calls out, begging us to turn from folly and live.

From John: As we talk about Lady Folly and Lady Wisdom this week, we’ll share this poem dramatizing the two ladies. It’s worth the repetition and meditation.

Music: “Again and One Mo’ Time” Aaron Smith

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading
In the beginning was the Word: the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things came into being, not one thing came into being except through him. What has come into being in him was life, that life that was the light of men; and light shines in the darkness, and darkness could not overpower it. — John 1.1-5


Today’s Readings
Proverbs 8 (Listen – 3:26)
Psalm 70-71 (Listen – 3:29)

Read more about Lady Folly
The seductress…Lady Folly. The woman is crafty. She is wealthy and intelligent. She has an aim and meticulously sets her trap.

https://theparkforum.org/843-acres/lady-folly

Read more about Solomon’s Folly
None of us are Solomon but we can all fall for Solomon’s folly…Any of us can apply a God-given skill, like wisdom, in a foolish and sinful way.

Scripture Focus: Proverbs 7:22-23
All at once he followed her like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping into a noose till an arrow pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost him his life.

Reflection: Lady Folly
By Erin Newton

As Proverbs’ dramatic poem continues, the father gives another example to educate his son in the way of wise living. There is a man walking the streets; he is a fool wandering into a trap laid out by a seductive woman. 

The seductress in Proverbs 7 is often referred to as Lady Folly. The woman is crafty. She is wealthy and intelligent. She has an aim and meticulously sets her trap. 

First, she lures the fool in with excitement. Grabbing him for a kiss, the thrill is her hook. 
Second, she conceals her ruse with religiosity. She has done her duty of worship and now is ready to share a ceremonial meal. Third, she aims for his ego and lavishes him with flattery. Finally, she tempts him with sensual pleasures and reassurance of secrecy. 

The relationship with the woman ends with the death of the foolish man. “All at once he followed her … little knowing it will cost him his life.” (v22-23) 

Although the story utilizes a real-life scenario of prostitution or adultery, which must have been common enough to be understood in this poetic way, the story has no particular judgment on gender. If anything, both genders are at fault in this story. In fact, the antithesis of Lady Folly appears in the next chapter when we meet Lady Wisdom. The book of Proverbs closes with the heralding of the smart, ambitious, hardworking woman. Let the reader understand, this poetic depiction of Folly is not a condemnation of women as the root of all evil. 

The moral of the story goes beyond wise sexual ethics. This is a story of a person who is aimless in life, senseless, easily lured by temptation. The person is drawn to excitement although it is tainted with impropriety. The person doesn’t stop to discern religious charades from true piety. The person is distracted by self-promotion and self-gratification instead of seeing the trap waiting ahead.

We are all in danger of being this fool. Temptations toward pleasure, thrills, and pride lurk around every corner. Perhaps the most sinister deception is the false pretense of loving God while leading others into sin and death.

The goal is more than avoiding seduction. The aim is to develop a heart that sees past these pretenses. The proverb teaches that wisdom is the guard against the places where seduction can bait a fool. 

From John: As we talk about Lady Folly and Lady Wisdom this week, we’ll share this poem dramatizing the two ladies. It’s worth the repetition and meditation.

Music: “Again and One Mo’ Time” Aaron Smith

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading
Jesus said: “In all truth I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave. Now a slave has no permanent standing in the household, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will indeed be free.” — John 8.34-36

Today’s Readings
Proverbs 7 (Listen – 2:21)
Psalm 69 (Listen – 4:04)

Read more about Temptation Has No Gender
In addition, these passages have been often misused to paint all women as temptresses and all men as victims.

Read more about Emulating Christ’s Love
Proverbs chides its readers, “Why commit sexual sin?” There are no benefits. Those who do this, do so because of folly and a lack of wisdom.

Scripture Focus: Proverbs 5.20-23
20 Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife? 
Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman? 
21 For your ways are in full view of the Lord, 
and he examines all your paths. 
22 The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them; 
the cords of their sins hold them fast. 
23 For lack of discipline they will die, 
led astray by their own great folly.

Reflection: Emulating Christ’s Love
By John Tillman

Famous couples often make romance appear flawless and easy.

Over the pandemic, while Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show was filming in his home, his wife, Evie, and the couple’s sons were the crew of the production. Many people fell in love with the on screen, real-life romance of the Colberts.

Everyone loves romance. We love love. We love romantic movies, music, and news about the romances of our favorite celebrities. People respond to cute moments of celebrity couples on social media with “#Goals” as a way of calling their romance an aspirational pursuit.

In Ragtime, a musical I am now rehearsing, the characters witnessing Coalhouse’s wooing of Sarah question their own relationships. “Haunting me, and somehow taunting me, my love was never half as true,” we sing. We do this in life as well. We idealize what we see of others’ relationships and despair at the problems we face in our own.

Watching idyllic romances play out can be inspiring but there are also famous flame-outs and failures. There are multiple examples of famous couples whose “perfect” marriages broke up over infidelity. No matter how perfect a relationship might seem, the things we see from the outside don’t sustain a marriage. Public infidelity has proven over and over that there is no wife (or husband) “hot enough” to keep a cheat from cheating. Attractiveness, public affection, adoring fans supporting you, and even extreme wealth can’t ensure marital purity.

Proverbs chides its readers, “Why commit sexual sin?” There are no benefits. Those who do this, do so because of folly and a lack of wisdom. The writer compares it to intoxication and to being tied up and trapped in a snare of sin. The beginning of this speech (Proverbs 5.1-6) tells us about the adulteress. She wanders aimlessly. She “gives no thought to the way of life.” She is bitterness and harshness covered over with smooth honey and oil.

Cultivating loving relationships is not just for romantic couples. All our ways, public and private, are to be honoring to our God who is with us. Singles also need life-giving, loving relationships. Loving relationships (whether sexual or platonic) can be achieved through the wisdom shared here. Rather than bitterness, let us spread the sweetness of Christ. Rather than thoughtless, selfish pursuits, let us emulate Christ’s self-sacrificing purpose for others.

Emulating Christ’s love enriches every relationship from the inside out.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
O Lord, watch over us and save us from this generation forever. — Psalm 12.7

Today’s Readings
Proverbs 5 (Listen – 2:08)
Psalm 66-67 (Listen – 2:42)

Read more On Balaam
The Israelites’ culture was most susceptible to the sexual temptations of ancient fertility cults…Greed is the fertility god of our age and our culture is addicted to it.

Read more about Restoring Relationship
The heartbreak of losing romantic intimacy causes grief unlike anything else. God understands this heartbreak and offers hope to those suffering.

Scripture Focus: Proverbs 2.12-19
12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, 
from men whose words are perverse, 
13 who have left the straight paths 
to walk in dark ways, 
14 who delight in doing wrong 
and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, 
15 whose paths are crooked 
and who are devious in their ways.

16 Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman, 
from the wayward woman with her seductive words, 
17 who has left the partner of her youth 
and ignored the covenant she made before God.
18 Surely her house leads down to death 
and her paths to the spirits of the dead. 
19 None who go to her return 
or attain the paths of life.

Reflection: Temptation Has No Gender
By John Tillman

Much ink has been spent in Christendom warning men to avoid female temptresses. Today’s reading, a warning to “my son” about an “adulterous woman,” is one that is often cited. The lessons are valid and needed.

The proliferation of pornography is exploding and prostitution and pornography are seeking normalization, even for minors. The pornography industry, like the tobacco industry before it, taps addiction as an income stream. Physical and psychological damage to customers and performers is callously counted as the cost of doing business.

However, porn isn’t just for men, and men also commonly initiate adulterous (or abusive) sexual relationships. All people need to be warned about infidelity and the predatory industry of porn. 

In addition, these passages have been often misused to paint all women as temptresses and all men as victims. The twisted extremes of “purity culture” taught women to treat their bodies like unexploded lust bombs on a hair-trigger. If a dress strap fell off of a shoulder, or a skirt hem rose up too high when sitting down, the lust explosion that could destroy a young (or old) man’s morality would be their fault. Men, instead of being protectors, demanded protection. Women were taught to bear the burden of dressing to protect men’s eyes and souls.

One way to prevent abuse of this passage is to recognize that it sits in balance with the four lines before it. A father is telling his son of the dangers that wisdom will save him from—but female seduction is not the first thing on his mind. The first dangers mentioned are the temptations of evil men. 

Sections of scripture that mirror each other like this are intended to cast light on each other. We must widen our gaze in the scriptures, especially in Proverbs, where matched pairs in tension with each other draw us deeper than the surface reading of either one alone.

The picture of the female temptress informs the image of the men of wickedness. The temptations of leaving straight paths for ones that are dark and wicked tell us more about how one is seduced sexually.

Seduction and temptation are not feminine (or masculine), nor are they limited to sexual pleasures. Carnality includes the lust of the eyes and of pride, not just the lust of the flesh. (1 John 2.16) Power, wealth, indulgence, sexuality…nothing escapes the corruption of sin and no gender is exempt from responsibility.

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading
Jesus said: “If your right eye should be your downfall, tear it out and throw it away; for it will do you less harm to lose one part of yourself than to have your whole body thrown into hell. And if your right hand should be your downfall, cut it off and throw it away; for it will do you less harm to lose one part of yourself than to have your whole body thrown into hell.” — Matthew 5.29-30

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Proverbs 2 (Listen – 1:53)
Psalm 60-61 (Listen – 2:27)

This Weekend’s Readings
Proverbs 3 (Listen – 3:05) Psalm 62-63 (Listen – 2:44)
Proverbs 4 (Listen – 2:37) Psalm 64-65 (Listen – 2:39)

Read more about The Sins Behind Sexual Sins
Many times sexual sins are a symptom of other sins such as greed, selfishness, inequality, and oppression.

Read more about Ancient #MeToo Story
It might be beneficial to meditate on how sin can be so easily embraced. No one is immune to sin.