Surprised by Wisdom

This morning I was feeling a touch more than I typically do the pain of having low fertility. I turned to the Lord with a kind of heavy sigh in my heart, and flipped open my Bible.

Now, as a Protestant I got pretty good at never being surprised at anything I found in Scripture, because I spent a lot of time reading (or hearing taught) even the obscure bits. But those good old deuterocanonicals can still catch me off guard. (I recall being among a group of joking fellow converts, speaking of how our Scripture reading habits had gotten "washed away with Baptism" ... ok, work with me on the joke a bit -- "worn off with fading chrism" just doesn't work as well.)

So today I was surprised to read Wisdom 1:16-5:23.*

Check out these verses:

Yes, blessed is she, who, childless and undefiled, knew not transgression of the marriage bed; she shall bear fruit at the visitation of souls ...

For the fruit of noble struggles is a glorious one; and unfailing is the root of understanding.

Better is childlessness with virtue; for immortal is its memory: because both by God is it acknowledged, and by men.

(And if you think those who struggle to conceive are not tempted to the transgression of the marriage bed, think again about what IVF actually is....)

I understood that God's word calls me to have the perspective of eternity on my pains, both momentary and deep. The meaning of our lives goes beyond what we see in this moment. Thank you, Lord.

*By the way, I find it irksome that I cannot find a source from which I can quote this entire text in the NAB. So, I use a Protestant source which has kindly included the Douay-Rheims version.