Wisdom 4:1-20: a reflection

1It is better to be childless with virtue, for immortality is in the memory of virtue, because it is recognized both before God and before men. 2When it is present, people imitate it. They long after it when it has departed. Throughout all time it marches, crowned in triumph, victorious in the competition for the prizes that are undefiled. 3But the multiplying brood of the ungodly will be of no profit, and their illegitimate offshoots won’t take deep root, nor will they establish a sure hold. 4For even if they grow branches and flourish for a season, standing unsure, they will be shaken by the wind. They will be uprooted by the violence of winds. 5Their branches will be broken off before they come to maturity. Their fruit will be useless, never ripe to eat, and fit for nothing. 6For unlawfully conceived children are witnesses of wickedness against parents when they are investigated. 7But a righteous man, even if he dies before his time, will be at rest. 8For honorable old age is not that which stands in length of time, nor is its measure given by number of years, 9but understanding is gray hair to men, and an unspotted life is ripe old age. 10Being found well-pleasing to God, someone was loved. While living among sinners he was transported. 11He was caught away, lest evil should change his understanding, or guile deceive his soul. 12For the fascination of wickedness obscures the things which are good, and the whirl of desire perverts an innocent mind. 13Being made perfect quickly, he filled a long time; 14for his soul was pleasing to the Lord. Therefore he hurried out of the midst of wickedness. 15But the peoples saw and didn’t understand, not considering this, that grace and mercy are with his chosen, and that he visits his holy ones; 16but a righteous man who is dead will condemn the ungodly who are living, and youth who is quickly perfected will condemn the many years of an unrighteous man’s old age. 17For the ungodly will see a wise man’s end, and won’t understand what the Lord planned for him, and why he safely kept him. 18They will see, and they will despise; but the Lord will laugh them to scorn. After this, they will become a dishonored carcass and a reproach among the dead forever; 19because he will dash them speechless to the ground, and will shake them from the foundations. They will lie utterly waste. They will be in anguish and their memory will perish. 20They will come with coward fear when their sins are counted. Their lawless deeds will convict them to their face.

This passage challenges a common assumption: that a long life is the measure of a good one. Honorable old age, it says, is not the length of time, nor measured by number of years; understanding is gray hair to a person, and an unspotted life is ripe old age. It is not the number of a person's years that makes their life good, but the character of it; a short life lived well is more truly full than a long life lived badly. And so even one who dies young, if righteous, is at rest.

Notice the reversal the passage works: the measure of a life is not its length but its quality. We tend to measure a life by its years, counting a long life as a full one and mourning a short one as cut off prematurely. But this passage insists that the true measure is character, not chronology; an unspotted life is ripe old age, however few its years, and a life full of years but empty of virtue is not truly full at all. What counts is not how long we live, but how we live.

That reframing offers comfort and challenge together. Comfort: for those whose lives, or whose loved ones' lives, were cut short, the passage insists that a life is not measured by its length; a short life lived well is full, and the righteous who die young are at rest. And challenge: for it turns our attention from the length of our days, which we cannot control, to the quality of them, which we can. Do not measure your life, or grieve a life cut short, only by the count of years; the true measure is character, not chronology. Give yourself to living well, not merely to living long; for an unspotted life is ripe old age, however few its years, and what counts before God is not how long you live, but how you live the life you are given.

Lord, this passage challenges the assumption that a long life is the measure of a good one: honorable old age is not length of time, but understanding and an unspotted life are ripe old age, and even one who dies young, if righteous, is at rest. Show me the reversal it works: that the measure of a life is not its length but its quality. I tend to measure a life by its years, counting a long life as full and mourning a short one as cut off too soon. But this passage insists that the true measure is character, not chronology; an unspotted life is ripe old age, however few its years. Give me its comfort and its challenge together. Comfort: for those whose lives, or whose loved ones' lives, were cut short, that a life is not measured by its length; a short life lived well is full, and the righteous who die young are at rest. And challenge: to turn my attention from the length of my days, which I cannot control, to the quality of them, which I can. Keep me from measuring my life, or grieving a life cut short, only by the count of years; help me give myself to living well, not merely to living long, for what counts before you is not how long I live, but how I live the life you give me. Help me live well, Lord, however long or short my days.