There is enough blame to go around. Most want to claim that it is the fault of someone else. Some economists think that if governments follow their advice and enact their solutions, that all would be well. But we have learned that life is much more complicated than they think.

Robert J. Samuelson, the distinguished Washington Post and Newsweek columnist has written a new book, The Great Inflation and its Aftermath: The Past and Future of American Affluence. Irwin M. Stelzer in his book review in The Weekly Standard writes that 'a "central lesson" that Samuelson would have us learn from the Great Inflation and its policy responses to it is "that ambitious efforts to remedy obvious economic shortcomings can actually make things worse - that happened then, and it could happen now.

The law of unintended consequences went into overdrive and might again...What is relevant for our era is that these [failed] policies were not undertaken on ignorant whim. Rather, they embodied the thinking of the nation's top economists, reflecting a broad consensus among their peers. It was the scholarly respectability of their ideas... that recommended them to political leaders and made them easier to sell to the public.....the Great Inflation's intellectual godfathers were without exception men of impressive intelligence. They were credentialed by some of the nation's outstanding universities...Academic pedigree alone is no guarantor of useful knowledge and wisdom." (January 5/12, 2009)

We need more wisdom and understanding than academics and politicians have. Where do we go to find it? Why not begin the new year by returning to the ancient wisdom of the Bible? Everyone needs to read the Bible, and particularly the book of Proverbs.

Proverbs exhorts us to seek wisdom:

"Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding,

for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold.

She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her.

Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor." (Proverbs 3:13-16)

"Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked,

for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared."

(3:25,26)

"Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them.

Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you.

Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom.

Though it cost you all you have, get understanding.

Esteem her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you.

She will set a garland of grace on your head and present you with a crown of splendor."

(4:5-9)

Where do you find such wisdom? The wise men, or the Magi were astrologers, soothsayers, magicians, advisors to kings, priests and prophets in their culture. They were seekers after truth, the intellectual elite of their day. Something must have grabbed their attention for them to have traveled so far from their privileged origins. They followed a star that portended the birth of a king of the Jews. They came to worship him with their treasures: gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They sacrificed their complacency, their reputation, their comfortable sinecure, in order to make this journey.

These mysterious figures represent for us the willingness to take a journey into the unknown, being led by what evidence they had, uncertain as it was, and to persevere until they reached the goal they had set before themselves. They wanted to get the wisdom, the understanding, the insight, that would reward them with answers to their questions and fulfillment for their souls.

If we are wise men and women we will be seekers after such truth, engaged on a quest to get wisdom and understanding. We will seek answers to the questions we have about life. We will be willing to move forward in our lives, from one stage to another, seeking to grow in faith, hope and love. It will be a search for meaning and purpose. We want to make sense of this life, we want to understand the universe, we want to know ourselves and what makes us tick, we want to contribute to human flourishing, we want to leave this place better for having lived in it, we want to feel that our lives have been valuable, and that we have matured and grown spiritually, that we have lived our lives to the full. We want to avoid making bad decisions. We want discernment on who to trust. That is why we read the Bible - to get wisdom, to get understanding.

If you want to wise up this coming year, set yourself the task of reading a portion of the Bible every day. There are thirty one chapters in Proverbs - one for each day of the month. Invest in a contemporary version of the Bible, with good print, and easy to read, to assist you in your resolve to get wisdom, to get understanding.

The Magi were restless to learn. They were willing to get on the road, and invest in a journey costly to them in time and treasure. They were willing to give their best to reach their goal. We are given the same opportunities, if not more than they had. We have the unprecedented opportunity to learn about every facet of life: about our mind, our emotions, our sensations, our will, our intuition, our attitudes, our behavior and our beliefs. Life is a journey in which we can grow in understanding and wisdom. We have the means to widen the range of our experiences. We can develop new and ever more healthy attitudes and emotions. We can sharpen our spiritual intuitions. All this takes time. God has given us a lifetime in which to learn and to grow. This year, if we persevere on our journey, we will get closer to our goal.

What is that goal? For the Magi it was to be found in the place where the child was born - it was to enter into the presence of God on earth. It was to bow down and worship this divine incarnation of wisdom. Does that not seem a strange goal for such exalted figures, counselors who stood in the presence of kings who valued their counsel? Yes, it is. All the more reason for us to follow their example, to ponder in our hearts the nature of that child, and what he portended for our salvation. If he contained the answers of the Magi's quest, then what answers does he have for us now?

The Magi were wise enough to heed the warning they received in a dream, not to go back to King Herod or trust him, but to return another way. Herod was bent on destroying the Christ child, who was a threat to his earthly power. When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi he ordered the massacre of the innocents - to kill all the boys in Bethlehem who were two years old and under. Such is the wisdom of this world. It is destructive and short-sighted. The wisdom of God is always under attack. There are those who would subvert it, reject it, revise it, ridicule it, dismiss it, or try to kill it. But the wisdom of God still endures despite all attempts to silence it.

The wisdom of God incarnate was born in the midst of violence and culminated in a violent execution by the Roman Empire - the Cross. But what was intended to finish off the wisdom of God in Christ, managed to transform it into a means of spiritual power. Both the birth and death of Jesus proclaim a wisdom that is powerful. The message of the Cross seems foolishness to the world, but it is the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18-31) The way God operates - the wisdom and understanding of God - goes against everything the world values. We get true wisdom, true understanding, through what God does in Christ: in the manger in Bethlehem, and in the Cross of Calvary. For it is Christ who is the wisdom of God. He gives us the ability to think right, to live right, to start all over again in freedom. In him are to be found all the answers to the questions of life. All the promises that wisdom brings are to be found in him.

If we want to get wisdom and understanding this coming year we will look for it in the Christ of the Scriptures. We will allow the Scriptures to inform us and inspire us, and lead us to the One who contains all the wisdom and knowledge of God.

(Ted Schroder is the author of SOLID LOVE, available from www.amazon.com or tschroder@ameliachapel.com.)