Baruch 3:9-14. God tells Israel to "hear the commandments of life," to listen and learn wisdom. He asks them, why do they think they are in exile in the land of their enemies? Why are they growing old there and "counted among those in Hades?" It is because they have forsaken wisdom. "If you had walked in the way of God you would be dwelling in peace for ever." So he tells them to learn where wisdom is to be found, where they can find strength and understanding, and then they will be able to discern where there is life, light, and peace.

This is a good follow up to my reading from yesterday in which I talked about how idols (specifically, there, the idol of politics) lead us to counter God's ways and yet still think we are doing "good." Such behavior shows a great lack of wisdom and a need to learn, or relearn it.

Many of us have fallen into this trap and have forsaken wisdom for the sake of some other pursuit. Because of that, we are suffering with a feeling of exile - exile from wisdom, from God. When we realize that our idols do not satisfy, and are in fact causing more suffering, we find ourselves in exile - in the land of the enemy. Then we must ask ourselves how we got there - that is step one. Once we figure out that we have gone astray, we can then remember where we found wisdom, strength, and understanding - with God. Then we can begin to relearn his wisdom and thereby find life, light, and peace.