1 Kings 3:3–14
It is not in the aesthetic of abolitionists to be complimenting and praising kings and rulers. But here, as we attempt to learn from this week’s lectionary, we find ourselves in the position to learn from Solomon in 1 Kings.
God shows up in Solomon’s dream, asking what he should give Israel’s new king. Solomon, as the story goes, requests wisdom and is granted it (along with riches and long life, evidently because he passed the ethics test and asked for wisdom rather than riches or long life).
Whether we choose to accept this literally or not is somewhat besides the point for the purpose I hope to utilize this story. As I look at this story, I see a specific reason for Solomon’s pursuit of wisdom that I had previously overlooked: the people.
The role Solomon embodied as king of Israel was a fundamentally political one. For curse or for pleasure, he held the task and ability to rule the operations of a nation. And Solomon, in the throes of this new task, turned to God for guidance.
“Your servant is in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a great people, so numerous they cannot be numbered or counted. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people,” Solomon asks God.
Here, we see a wisdom worth replicating. (In other areas of Solomon’s story, this is not the case). The wisdom is to seek out God’s guidance and discernment as we love and care for our neighbors, a great people — God’s people.
As we consider the political power we wield in a democratic republic, or even simply as people with some sense of agency, we must seek out God’s wisdom and direction and we must seek it not because we have a necessity to be right or correct, but because we love the people around us.
Loving those around us, believing in their best and believing that they are fundamentally worthy of the best is at the root of the work we do as abolitionists. No one is to be thrown away or dismissed, all are God’s people, and we are to love them with our political activity.
Mitchell Atencio is a discalced writer and photographer in Washington, D.C.