With Donald Trump's inauguration imminent, there's been plenty of talk about who had been chosen to offer prayers at the event. Trump's team has selected six leaders to pray – ranging from a Pentecostal pastor to a Rabbi.
The most interesting insight that we have so far is the text that Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York, will use as the basis of his prayer.
He has chosen to read from the Book of Wisdom. It's one of the deuterocanonical books of the Bible – considered to be apocryphal by Protestants, but part of the Bible by Catholics. Also known as the Wisdom of Solomon, there is disagreement over its authorship, but the message of this prayer seems perfect for this particular inauguration.
Attributed to Solomon, part of the prayer says, "the reasoning of mortals is inadequate, our attitudes of mind unstable; for a perishable body presses down the soul, and this tent of clay weighs down the mind with its many cares."
It also contains this heartfelt request for wisdom: "With you is Wisdom, she who knows your works, she who was present when you made the world; she understands what is pleasing in your eyes and what agrees with your commandments. Dispatch her from the holy heavens, send her forth from your throne of glory to help me and to toil with me and teach me what is pleasing to you."
It's hard to imagine a more apposite prayer for our times - and for Donald Trump.
Part of Trump's appeal to the American electorate lay in his reputation as an outsider, a man who wasn't part of the political machine. In an economy like the US, where wealth inequality is stark, we can see why someone seen as being an "outsider" to a broken system won.
There's a problem, though. Quite apart from Trump's many obvious character and moral failings, the lack of experience he has in a perilously complicated world has to be a worry. The simplistic solutions he has proposed can't be carried out. The Mexicans won't pay to build a wall. Replacing the Affordable Care Act with, "health care that is far less expensive and far better," as Trump has promised, will be fiendishly difficult and there is no discernable plan from Trump or the GOP.
Defeating ISIS, resisting the rise of Vladimir Putin's autocratic Russia (if Trump even wants to), and creating jobs as automation and outsourcing continue apace. These are all viciously vexed problems. A master operator in politics and economics would struggle. A man without a single day of governing experience is going to find it an almighty undertaking.
This is where we come back to wisdom – and the astute choice made by Cardinal Dolan. What Solomon teaches us is that wisdom is the greatest virtue of a leader. Trump may brag about his business skills, but it's meaningless if he has no wisdom.
Solomon, whose finery would have made the Trump Tower look impoverished, was beloved of his people, not because of his riches. Instead, "they stood in awe of the king, because they perceived that the wisdom of God was in him, to execute justice."
A wise man wouldn't boast about grabbing women without their consent. A wise man wouldn't show disregard for religious freedom. A wise man should use social media to build people up, not humiliate them.
Cardinal Dolan's message to Trump, and the American people, is that the measure of a leader isn't in his inflated claims, in military might, or even his ability to create prosperity. A true Judeo-Christian vision of leadership will value justice above all. In the famous words of the Prophet Micah, "He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?"
Wisdom doesn't seem to be in fashion at the moment. Simple solutions to complex problems are offered by politicians across the world. How different the world might look if they sought Godly wisdom instead.
When the Queen Of Sheba visited King Solomon, she remarked, "The report was true that I heard in my own land of your accomplishments and of your wisdom... Happy are these your servants, who continually attend you and hear your wisdom!"
May we pray that in our own time we may be able to say the same of all our leaders.
