Learning to Live Well

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with the Reverend Canon Dr Mark Clavier.

Good morning.

Ask most people about King Alfred and they’ll probably mention his defeat of the Viking army or the burnt cakes. Few think of him as a saint.

Yet the Church commemorates him today in her calendar. This isn’t for his military prowess or even for his culinary skills. Rather, it’s primarily for his love of wisdom. Alarmed that learning had decayed throughout his kingdom, Alfred gathered scholars to his court and had important works translated into English from Latin. He wanted a kingdom not just defended from enemies but also formed in wisdom and learning.

The Vikings against whom he fought told stories about how Odin sacrificed an eye to gain wisdom. Scripture offers a different picture: James writes in his epistle: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” Wisdom here isn’t seized heroically at a cost but is generously given. It begins, as Proverbs says, simply in reverence.

Such wisdom is also more than information. It’s knowing how to live well with God, creation, and each other. In an age of endless information, therefore, perhaps what we need more than anything else is, like King Alfred, to love wisdom enough to yearn for it.
Let us pray.

Generous God, giver of all wisdom, who raised up your servant Alfred to love learning and serve his people, teach us to seek understanding with humble hearts, and to use what we know for the good of others and for our world; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.