The search for wisdom concerned the ancients, and it greatly concerns us today. Men naturally long to discern the meaning of life and to deal soundly with human affairs. In the various periods of civilization wise men have been sought out and their counsel praised. It was the search for wisdom that produced the great philosophers of Greece as well as the word philosophy, which has the root meaning, "The love of wisdom." But real wisdom does not originate in the human mind; it is an attribute of God and must be sought of Him who makes no mistakes, and whose boundless resources are an open fount of good.
The book of Job, which has its place in the wisdom literature of the Bible, is designed to teach this lesson. One wonders if it was not with some acerbity that Job said to his reproving friends (12:2), "No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you." Job's contention was (verse 13), "With him [God] is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding." Job attained great stature of wisdom through his insistence that its true source is God. Perhaps this stature was never better evidenced than in the fact that he finally prayed for the friends who had disturbed him. With this prayer came release from physical bondage, and greater prosperity than he had known before was his.
Mary Baker Eddy says in her article "Science and Philosophy" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 359): "Men give counsel; but they give not the wisdom to profit by it. To ask wisdom of God, is the beginning of wisdom." Christian Science shows us how to pray effectively in order to express wisdom; we are not to implore God for this valuable quality, but to realize that man, as the perfect image of God, reflects infinite wisdom. This scientific prayer makes the treasures of divine wisdom available so that one may control his affairs with judgment and intelligence and thus avoid suffering from mistakes.
