"Bella Sophia"
by Virginia Knowles
Lady Wisdom diligently prepares her feast
She fixes her savory meats and mixes her sweet wines
Then arranges her lovely banquet table:
Linens, bouquets, crystal, china, silver, candles
With exquisite hospitality and grace
She welcomes her guests:
"Come in, sit down, and dine!"
This feast is for our souls
Lady Wisdom nourishes our minds with solid truth
And delights our spirits with goblets of merry mirth
She pleases our inner eyes and ears with a deep harmony
A heart mark of the Creator.
Dear Lady Wisdom,
Teach me to teach as you do
To season my words with the spices of love and prayer
To think before I speak so I will know
What each hungry heart needs to hear
Show me how to captivate hearts and minds
With insight and satisfy their souls with delight
To feed them the honeycomb of pleasant words
Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
Bella Sophia
Beautiful Lady Wisdom
Help me to spread a banquet in my home
With the Meat of the Word
The Bread of Life and Living Water
The Fruit of the Spirit
Then come alongside
And call out with me through open doors,
"Welcome, sit down, and dine!"
Wisdom has built her house;
she has set up its seven pillars.
2 She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine;
she has also set her table.
3 She has sent out her servants, and she calls
from the highest point of the city,
4 “Let all who are simple come to my house!”
To those who have no sense she says,
5 “Come, eat my food
and drink the wine I have mixed.
6 Leave your simple ways and you will live;
walk in the way of insight.”
Proverbs 9:1-6
I read these words from Proverbs Saturday morning and started thinking about how I communicate with others. It still wasn't a good day for that -- so many cross conversations! As a mother, I do need bella sophia, beautiful wisdom, in the atmosphere of my home. How am I nurturing my own children? I've got so much to learn and do. As a writer, I try to set the table on my blogs with a variety of articles, some serious, some practical, some aesthetic, some light-hearted. As an English teacher, too, I see the need to reach the hearts and minds of each of my students. Lesson planning takes effort, but it's worth it. Yes, I teach grammar and spelling, but most of all, through the literature, writing, music and art appreciation that I plan each week, I try to impart wisdom for life. After reading in Proverbs 9, I'll now try to think of it as preparing the feast and setting the table -- with enough substance to sustain them and enough delight to capture their hearts for the truth. What do you think about this?
Virginia Knowles
P.S. I borrowed the table photo from my post Welcoming Touches. (Many thanks to my friend Judy, who hosted our Dinner with Friends feast two weeks ago!)
Lovely words! May be all pursue Wisdom with all diligence knowing that those who ask for it will receive it from One who gives abundantly!
ReplyDeleteI am a teacher too (although substituting right now). I love the metaphor of setting the table of wisdom for my students and on my blog. Beautiful! I am so glad I found you!
ReplyDeletePraying that we may all walk in the way of insight!
ReplyDeleteThis was a beautiful rendition of that verse! I'm here from Deirdra's. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm stopping by from Jumping Tandem's Sunday.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful and wonderful words.
I hope you have a blessed week!