WE TEND TO THINK of holy wisdom as something--like so much else in the spiritual life--we have to look for. "O God, you are my God whom I seek," the psalmist prays. The Book of Wisdom seems to say the same thing: "She is readily perceived by those who love her, and found by those who seek her."

At an adventure camp for teens, the campers were divided into teams to test their camping skills. When the earnest instructor tried to demonstrate safety practices, one group of guys mimicked him and spent their time laughing and joking.

A few years back, I celebrated the wedding of a couple in a church in a northern suburb of Chicago. The reception was in a country club in a southern suburb across the metropolitan area. Traffic was terrible, and everyone was late arriving. The bride and groom were nowhere to be found. The photographer took pictures of everyone else.

The folks who put together this week's lectionary readings could have had Sue Duncan in mind. Like Saint Paul, who was "gentle among you, as a nursing mother cares for her children, Duncan--since 1961 a volunteer teacher at what is now known as the Sue Duncan Children's Center--has been a caring mother, first of her own children, one of whom is the U.S. secretary of education ...

One day it dawned on me that my eighth-grade teacher was a phony. He was a decent person, I suppose, but he was young and insecure in his first year of teaching. His insecurity led him to try to act tough, but he didn't have the courage to stand up to the wilder kids in the class (and there were some wild kids in our class!).

Politicians, civil servants, and business and religious leaders get themselves into trouble when they hold themselves above accepted and expected moral and ethical standards.

A number of years ago comedian Billy Crystal had a running gag portraying Fernando, a quintessential Hollywood character. Crystal would come on talk shows and greet the host with an enthusiastic, "You look mahvelous!"

The greatest commandment: Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind doesn't really need a second commandment to follow it. But Jesus offers one about loving your neighbor as yourself. Why?

Mr. Cardinale was rehearsing his lines in his mind. His daughter had missed curfew once again, and she'd already been warned. How often had he told her about curfew-rule number one? Now, he was going to lower the boom.

I met a community organizer at a number of meetings in the neighborhood. I liked her style, so one day I asked her how she had gotten into her profession. She spoke of her idealism in college, but that it was mostly talk and little action.