Much of the material which we read in the Wisdom books of the Old Testament may strike us as ordinary human reflections on ordinary human experience. That impression is a true one, for God has indeed given us the ability to reflect on and learn from experience, whether our own personal experience or the collective experience of a society, a community, a nation.

The fact that such material is in the Bible serves a twofold purpose. First of all, we learn to appreciate and value our ability to reflect on and learn from experience. Secondly from our human reflection in conjunction with our faith we learn to discern, under the cloak of our human wisdom, God's wisdom and guidance, his revelation and invitation to a higher level of knowledge and morality.

St Ignatius teaches us to seek and find God in all things, and that includes human reflection on human experience. In the context of this world where we live, all things, whether material, human, spiritual or experiential were made for us to help us in our pilgrimage to God.