23 March 2026

‘Where is wisdom to be found?’ asks Job. ‘Where can we learn to understand?’ The first point to make is that knowledge does not necessarily bring with it the wisdom to know what to do with it. We may live on the edge of unprecedented scientific and technological discovery but do we know how to use it wisely?

Even the greatest minds make mistakes – as Albert Einstein discovered. Just before he died, he admitted that he had made a great mistake ‘when I signed the letter to President Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made.’

His scientific knowledge anticipated the atomic bomb in 1939 and, of course, six years later the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Many have discussed the wisdom of this. Einstein’s regret is compelling and we rest our case with Job, ‘Wisdom is not to be found among men; no one knows its true value.’

‘God alone knows the way, knows the place where wisdom is found.’ For the poet says, ‘To be wise, you must have reverence for God.’  To have reverence for God is to sense how awesome he is. It’s to acknowledge that in his presence we are awestruck. We sense his transcendence, the appropriateness of offering him our worship.

Having reverence for God encourages us to acknowledge his existence and to put ourselves into a different relationship with the world. We are no longer at the centre of the universe. God is there and we belong to something much bigger than ourselves.

In this place, we are also encouraged to reverence the things which God has made, the things which have been touched by his hands – the creation, human beings made in his image, the living Word, the primacy of love, the pursuit of peace.