FORTY CHAPTERS. TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY VERSES. SEVEN WISDOM BOOKS.
The Original Search Engine
What Scripture’s Wisdom Books Reveal About Purpose, Relationships, and the Life You Actually Want
A forty-chapter journey through the oldest wisdom literature on earth — written for the person in the parking lot, the hospital waiting room, the quiet kitchen at 11 p.m. Not a theology textbook. Not a devotional. A guide through seven books most people skip, written by someone who almost gave up looking.
What this book is.
A layperson’s close reading of the seven Wisdom Books of the Bible — Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom of Solomon, and Sirach — organized into forty chapters that can be read in Lent, in a season, or one chapter at a time.
Each chapter centers on six verses, chosen the way a friend chooses a passage to read aloud — for the moment when it is actually needed. Each chapter ends with a line worth memorizing, a practical “Living It Out” section, and honest, unhurried reflection questions. The book is designed to be read straight or opened to wherever you need it. 34.2% of the verses come from Sirach and Wisdom of Solomon, books that appear only in the Catholic Bible. Most Catholic readers have never opened either.
More than a third of the cited verses are drawn from Sirach and Wisdom of Solomon — the two books that are in the Catholic Bible and not in the Protestant Bible, and that are underrepresented in nearly every other contemporary synthesis of Scripture’s Wisdom literature.
What this book is not.
It is not an apologetic. It is not an argument for the Church. It is not a rebuke of anyone who has left or stepped back. It is a long, patient invitation to read seven books most Catholics have never finished, written by someone who went looking for answers and found them in the oldest place.
FROM CHAPTER 14 — ‘THE WATCHED’
I used to think the opposite of being alone was being with people. Megan taught me the opposite of being alone is being known. She was standing in the doorway of a coffee shop I’d been going to for years. I’d seen her a hundred times. I had never once said hello. That morning I did. She cried before the coffee was ready. Not because anything was wrong. Because someone had finally noticed she was there.
— The Original Search Engine, Chapter 14
The Daily Wisdom Companion
A 127-page workbook with a two-page spread for every chapter of the main book. Each spread contains a Core Insight, a One-Sentence Challenge, a Wisdom Check, a Real-World Test, a Conversation Starter, and a My Commitment prompt — structured so that a reader can spend ten minutes with a chapter and walk into the rest of the day carrying something.
It is spiral-bound, so it lies flat on a kitchen table. It is designed to be written in.
A COMPANION TO THE ORIGINAL SEARCH ENGINE
Which of these feels closest to where you are right now?
Three kinds of readers will pick this up.
You have been Catholic for decades. You know the Gospels. You know the Psalms, mostly. You have never read Sirach cover to cover, and you suspect most people you love have not either. This book is for you — and for the three people you will give it to.
The one who stayed.
You stopped believing, stopped belonging, or were given a reason to leave that the Church has never adequately answered. You are curious again, or wary, or both. This book starts where you are standing.
The one who left.
You were not raised in any faith, or you left one that is not Catholic. You’ve read some of the modern writers. You want to know whether the Wisdom Books are worth your time before you open them yourself. This book is where to start.
The one still deciding.
What are you carrying right now?
When this book is published, I want to know.
No pitch. No spam. One email when the book is available. After that, you decide whether to stay on the list.
-
No. The book is written by a Catholic layperson and the seven Wisdom Books are part of the Catholic canon, but the wisdom in them belongs to anyone who picks them up. Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs are shared with Protestant Bibles. Wisdom of Solomon and Sirach are in Catholic, Orthodox, and most Anglican Bibles. The book quotes scripture in plain English and assumes no theological background.
-
Each chapter takes ten to fifteen minutes. Read straight through in forty days (one chapter a day during Lent works well), in forty weeks, or open it wherever you need it. The book is designed for both straight reading and reference.
-
Yes. The Daily Wisdom Companion is a workbook designed for individual or small-group use. Chapter 30 includes a complete facilitator guide and participant handout available free on the resources page.
-
The book quotes the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE), which is the Catholic Church’s approved English translation for liturgical and study use. Where a different translation is used for a particular phrasing, the source is noted.
-
Because the Wisdom Books do not need credentials to be true. The author is a layperson who drifted away from the Church, came back through the Wisdom Books, and writes from the position of someone who has been there — not an expert. The pen name keeps the focus on the seven books, not the person writing about them.
-
A publication date will be announced on the blog and via email when it is set. Subscribers hear first.
Questions people ask before they buy it.
The book is designed to be opened on a hard day, at a quiet hour, at the exact page you happen to need. Let the book choose for you.