Proper 19 (Year B, 2021): Litany for Welcoming Wisdom

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This week’s Lectionary texts introduce us to the aspect of God personified as Lady Wisdom: a bold, loud, generous feminine figure who offers her counsel to whomever will accept it, and her presence to whomever gives her hospitality.

Perhaps this will resonate with you: as I navigate the endlessly complex issues and problems of the day - pandemic response, racial reckoning and dismantling white supremacy, smashing the patriarchy, the current abortion uproar in Texas, pastoring people who are restructuring their faith paradigms, figuring out how to do good work without burning out, and so many other daily and far-reaching complexities - I NEED Mama Wisdom. I need her with me.

So I set my inner table as hospitably as ever I can. And I invite her in, intending never to refuse her counsel.


God, awaken our spiritual ears
To learn as people who are good at being taught, (1)
As people who are comfortable with admitting when we’re wrong,
As people who can confront our own biases,
As people capable of sitting with paradox,
As people who understand nuance….

Litany for Sophia (Proper 19, Year B)



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The Lectionary passages for this week contain images of the Divine Feminine in the form of Sophia, the Wisdom of God. She is mostly a forgotten idea among present-day Evangelicals, but other traditions have kept her alive. I myself have found solace and healing in studying her and bringing her into my thinking about God, and in reclaiming the Divine Feminine. I recommend reading this article by Jann Aldredge-Clanton for an introduction. Also check out our latest sermon series “God as She,” from Peace of Christ Church.


Oh God, the heavens are declaring your beauty;
The earth is proclaiming your character (1).
We mostly don’t hear this
Because we don’t stop long enough to listen.

Your own Wisdom is calling out to us
Day and night (2) -
She who is an emanation of your light,
A mirror of your being,
An image of your goodness (3).
She does all things;
She renews all things;
She orders all things;
She is better than any other light,
More worthy than any star (4).

If we don’t hear her,
It’s not because she isn’t speaking.
If we don’t see her,
It’s not because she isn’t there.

Oh God, open our eyes and ears to Wisdom,
To the beauty of your Person.
And make us ever more able to take you in,
To understand more fully,
To know more deeply,
To have patience to listen well. Amen




1) Psalm 19:1

2) Proverbs 1:20

3) Wisdom 7:26

4) Wisdom 7:27, 29