Unexpectedly Finished

On Friday, I finished my verse by verse study of Proverbs. I didn't even realize it at the time. I had in my mind that I had started in Chapter 27 and had about a month to go. Then on Saturday morning I was looking over the downstairs bookshelf and happened to see my first Proverbs notebook (the first half - it took 2 notebooks). I flipped it open and was astonished to see that I started in Chapter 26! So I didn't even do a single verse twice (not that that would have been a bad thing!). The official count is 2 years, 7 months, 15 days.



I cannot claim to be wiser than I was at the start of this, in fact I am more convinced than before of my lack of wisdom and (especially) of my need of it! I am not sure wisdom is something that can be owned. I think its (or her! Pro. 1:20) potential to be tapped is available at every choice we make, but that we don't always choose to embrace it. I know I don't.

I don't think wisdom is necessarily gained with age, but for some people I'm sure it can be. They say "some people have to learn the hard way", but they also say "some people never learn." It's true.

I did learn one lesson well though - doing something slowly does not mean it won't get done. Being challenged to not underestimate what I can do in the long term is what started this in the first place. Sometimes I get a lot done, but at heart, I am really easily overwhelmed. I can't take on too many tasks at once or I abandon all of them. In the past, if I couldn't achieve something quickly, I wasn't interested in doggedly pursuing it. But I am starting to be content with making a small deposit of effort to achieve a long term goal. It's not a race anyway.

Ultimately I believe it is God's faithfulness and not my own determination that allowed me to finish the task. There are a thousand things that could have interrupted it. I only wish I had been more faithful to really mull over each and every verse.

A Proverb

Proverbs 25:11

A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.

I have thought of this verse often in the past - mostly because...what are apples of gold in settings of silver? But more recently, I spoke an apt word (and don't ask me what it was because I can't remember that only how I felt after I said it!). It seems to me that a word aptly spoken usually can't be prepared in advance. Even if you craft some witty, wise saying, the delivery is so dependent on situation. But sometimes all things collide and lovely wise words appear in perfect harmony with a uncontrived conversation. And I think that an apt word is every bit as satisfying as a foolish word is humiliating. So whether apples of gold in settings of silver is a lovely painting or a delicate piece of jewelry or a king's table topper, it is art and it is beautiful - like a aptly spoken word.

A Proverb

Proverbs 17:28

Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue.

No comment!

A Comparable Proverb

Humor me with one more Proverb and then I'll get back to blogging about the kids or being 9 months pregnant!

Proverbs 15:4 The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.

If I had to list the 5 biggest issues I have to correct the kids on, speech would be on the list. Annalise, at only 2, has a favorite catch-phrase; it's "You go to JAIL!" said in a very loud, unfriendly tone. To tone it down, she will repeat it sweetly, "You go to jail." But being so little, she is a pretty good illustration of how speech just overflows from the heart.

It really is amazing how powerful speech is - and there are other Proverbs that address it, I just happened to be reading this one around the same time I was talking with the kids about James 3...

Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire...

And naturally I found myself telling them how saying mean things can "burn" someone else's feelings like a fire can burn our hands. But we read the passage in James more than once and suddenly the middle of verse 6 jumped out at me:

It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire

I was very surprised because I always skimmed over these words assuming the fire burned the recipient, but here it's the speaker that is burned! I guess for me the bottom line is this - speech has power when you use it to help or hinder someone else, but it also brings to life the hidden places of our hearts and we must use caution when expressing it.

Catch Up Proverbs #2

Proverbs 15:11 Death and Destruction lie open before the LORD--how much more the hearts of men!

What a dramatic way to describe God's omniscience - he understands perfectly the very things no person can understand - death, suffering...and why on earth people do the things they do!

Proverbs 15:23 A man finds joy in giving an apt reply--and how good is a timely word!

All I can say about this is, I wish I could find this kind of joy more often!

Proverbs 16:10 The lips of a king speak as an oracle, and his mouth should not betray justice.

I like the word "oracle" - I guess it isn't very commonly used, but it makes me think of this wise sage who deserves to be listened to. Unfortunately we all know that not all leaders can be defined in that way! Power and responsibility should go hand in hand. I wish that sobering thought would keep people out of public service instead of the fear of being destroyed by the media.

Catch-Up Proverbs #1

I've neglected to post some of the Proverbs I've found most interesting. I'll post them in two sets.

Proverbs 13:7 One man pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.

I thought this was such a timeless observation! I can see the motivation to pretend to have more than you do, but why pretend to be poor when you have great wealth! I guess people can have different motives. "Wealth" doesn't always have to be views as money, it might be someone wealthy in their intelligence or relationships. Maybe they fear it being taken from them, or maybe they just don't want to rub it in someone else's face. Or maybe they're just blind to how good they've got it.

Proverbs 14:4 Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox comes an abundant harvest.

I really like this verse. Actually I told Caleb about it when he said he didn't want to do his chores! A manger is like an ox's dinner plate, so without an ox to work, there wasn't even grain enough to feed an ox! Let alone a whole harvest... so too our house - who most benefits from our work, us...and who suffers most from our laziness? Us!

Proverbs 14:10 Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can share its joy.

Anyone else feel kind of lonely after reading this verse? Here is something more useful to take away from it - don't harbor feelings to please or punish someone else, it won't work!

A Proverb about Paths

Proverbs 16:9 - In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.

Something I've noticed throughout Proverbs is the motif of a "path" as a metaphor for life. I like talking about our life as a path with the kids because it kind of breaks life down into individual choices (steps) and (I hope) helps them see that each choice they make is leading them either toward God or away from Him.

This verse seemed familiar to me, but I think the one I was thinking of was Proverbs 19:21. Proverbs 16:9 contrasts two movements - a course and a step - what people like to do is to look at the big picture, have a goal, plan something big, but we forget that our lives are made up for much smaller events - events that can change our overall course of life if we let them (and I think usually we do). It reminds me of one of my favorite Dickens quotes:

Trifles make the sum of life.

I'm not exactly sure what it means that God determines our steps - we have the free will to make decisions...but then we don't have His sovereignty to engineer all the circumstances that really affect the choices we make.

A Quick Proverb

Proverbs 14:16

A wise man fears the LORD and shuns evil, but a fool is hotheaded and reckless.

It seems like shunning something as awful as "evil" would be straightforward, but the second half of this verse offers a clue to something deeper - "hotheaded" - one who is easily angered falls easily into evil. Anger is such a two way street. I know it is popular to dismiss it as a feeling, but the more I read of Proverbs, the more I have come to believe that it is a "feeling" to greet with great caution. A wise man is slow to become angry, which to me says many things that anger a fool don't bother a wise man at all.

A Proverb

If I ever get a tattoo, I think this is what I want it to say.

Proverbs 14:1

The wise woman builds her house,
but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.

A Resolution Inspiring Proverb

One of the first Proverbs of my year, 11:9:

With his mouth the godless destroys his neighbor,
but through knowledge the righteous escape.

A lot of Proverbs seems to glut together verses saying basically the same thing. The series I'm in now esteems the virtues and benefits of righteousness - and this verse is no different. However, that's not what caught my eye. When I read it, I suddenly remembered a conversation I had with a neighbor. We were talking about another friend and I said something critical about a choice she had made. As soon as I said it, I wished I could have taken it back. Only a few days before I had silently prided myself on not being a gossip, but here I was talking poorly about someone who treats me with kindness.

When someone is always slandering others, it doesn't take a great deal of discernment to dismiss most of what they say, but if someone usually avoids gossip, their critical words carry more weight...more power, maybe enough to destroy the reputation of someone else. I think this is a very convicting sort of verse.

The encouraging part is the second half - "through knowledge the righteous escape" - how Proverbs defines knowledge is still unclear to me, but the best I can understand so far is that it is synonymous with wisdom. So for a righteous person, there is a defense against slander - and that at least is a comfort for me when I think of my friend.

Proverbs and the Origin of Wisdom

In my quest for wisdom (for myself and to impart to my children), I frequently feel like true wisdom is out of my grasp. I can take in the precepts, but application is beyond me. I found some unexpected comfort in chapter 8 where wisdom is speaking:

Proverbs 8:22-23
"The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works,
before his deeds of old;
I was appointed from eternity,
from the beginning, before the world began.

This is just a short part of a longer discussion of how widsom existed before creation, before time began - as this vibrant, almost participartory attribute of God. That means that wisdom is not something "of this world". People will say and do wise things, but on the whole true wisdom is not a human thing - making it more like santification, something that can progress in life, but is never fully realized in a fallen world.

A Couple of Proverbs

I recently estimated about how long it is going to take to read Proverbs by reading 1 a day - I've been working at it for a year now and it should take at least 2 more years to finish.

A couple of verses stood out to me this week. One is Proverbs 8:2

On the heights along the way,
where the paths meet, she takes her stand

"She" in this case is Wisdom, and I kind of like how wisdom is personified as a woman in Proverbs. In chapter 8, Wisdom is speaking directly to the reader - "Listen" she implores. And verse 2 gives a good clue as a time to really have your ears open - "where the paths meet". When we are caught up in the hum-drum of life, we tend to keep our status-quo, but when there is a decision that must be made, Wisdom's voice will be nearby. It's an opportunity to hear it and heed it.

The other verse I wanted to mention is 8:4

"To you, O men, I call out;
I raise my voice to all mankind.

It's like, who's that fool she's talking it? oh yeah, that's me...And I find this verse very encouraging, in the past reading Proverbs made me think, "I'm so glad I'm not a fool!" and this time, I've realized in horror that I am a fool! But the need for wisdom is universal and without it, we all are fools. And thankfully, life is not all status-quo; there are always decisions to be made and opportunities to hear Widsom calling.

A Proverb and "Just off the Nightstand" Collide!

When we visited the library last week, the requested collection of Robert Lewis Stevenson's short stories was there waiting for me. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a novella. The introduction of the book warned the reader that fear is the natural response to reading the story and to expect to identify with Mr. Hyde the next time we faced temptation. It is a scary story, but I think it would have been a scarier story to someone who had no idea about who Mr. Hyde really was. It isn't revealed until the very end of the story that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are one and the same.

On the cover of the copy I was reading, there was a picture of a man's face with a line through it - one side was sane and respectable, the other was wild and fearsome, but that is not an accurate picture of the contrast between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Dr. Jekyll is an older man, tall and pleasant to look at, whereas Mr. Hyde is small, dwarfish, much younger and frequently described as "not human". The contrast is also inward - ultimately Mr. Hyde is the physical representation of Dr. Jekyll giving in to temptations, which is why this book met up with my Proverb's study.

Last night's verse was 5:22

The evil deeds of a wicked man ensnare him;
the cords of his sin hold him fast.

As Mr. Hyde, Dr. Jekyll could live a fast paced, wild, dangerous life, but as returning to being Dr. Jekyll, he could completely hide from the consequences. But the consequences were still there. Each time he chose to be transformed into Hyde, he became a little less able to resist temptation and Hyde's lust for evil grew a little stronger. In his final statement, he admits:

Strange as my circumstances were, the terms of this debate are as old and commonplace as man; much the same inducements and alarms cast the die for any tempted and trembling sinner; and it fell out with me, as it falls with so vast a majority of my fellows, that I chose the better part and was found wanting in the strength to keep to it.

In time, the Hyde part of his personality became stronger than Dr. Jekyll and completely took over - before he could only become Hyde by drinking a potion, but in the end, he became Hyde every time his guard was down. Jekyll was forced to use up his antidote and, unable to find the right ingredients to make more, realized in the end that he would finally become Mr. Hyde for good.

Likewise, sin is capable of holding a man hostage...of making him a slave. Proverbs continually declares that life is a journey and the farther down the wrong path you go, the harder it is to get back to the right path. And the verse I quoted seems to suggest that there is a point where it is too late, too much time has passed pacifying the sinful desires and man is trapped down a pathway that leads to destruction...or is he?

So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. (Romans 7:21-25)

Another Proverb

Although I haven't written about it in...oh...about half a year, I'm still plodding through the book of Proverbs - verse by verse, and I have to say, I am so glad I've been doing this. Even though the first few chapters are pretty repetative, I think that skimming the book would not hammer in so clearly the message that it presents. It is a father telling his son how to live - what could be more appropriate for me at this time in my life?

Life is described as a journey, or more specifically (at least in the NIV) a path. So the verse I am spotlighting here is Proverbs 5:6

She gives no thought to the way of life;
her paths are crooked, but she knows it not.

"She" is an adultress (who makes me think so much of the wolf in Red Riding Hood who had "such charming manners"*) - lips that drip honey, speech smooth as silk, but in the end..."bitter as gall" "a double edged sword". This lesson is to teach two things - to not be naive and to emphasize the danger of straying from the path that leads to life.

And then verse 6 - she doesn't even think about what she is doing - she doesn't even realize she is on a path. She does not see it is leading to death, she does not consider that her life could be anything different. In short, she isn't thinking ahead.

It became personal to me because I see our day (mine and the kids) as being a sort of journey (a journey to bedtime! ha!). Our day has become increasingly filled with routines. It wasn't even really intentional, but it makes life easier for me and I think the kids like knowing what's going on. I think, based on this verse, routine is a vehicle for change in our lives. I wanted the kids to eat more fruit, so I deemed 3pm as "Fruit Snack Time". And that kind of routine is good - and is obviously accomplishing a goal. So I consider if I allow bad habits to become part of our "routine" am I setting off down a path...pursuing an objective...a goal - without even realizing it? It really makes me want to rethink my whole day - even after their bedtime.

Another Proverb

I'm still plodding through Proverbs, one verse at a time, and I'm noticing some interesting verses that I'm sure I've just glossed over before without ever thinking about them. Like:

29:13 The poor man and the oppressor have this in common: The Lord gives sight to the eyes of both.

Some other translations use the word creditor instead of oppressor. I think it's a pretty fair trade ;) I guess this verse could be speaking generally about life instead of specifically about sight. Like Matthew 5:45 - He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. That is the concept that sometimes good things happen to bad people and sometimes bad things happen to good people. So this is put bluntly with no explanation - no answer as to why this is so.

But something I consider from time to time is that in order to identify with another person, you must empathize with them and experience what they are going through. Kind of like a group of new moms groaning about babies up all night. Suddenly there is a connection that wasn't there before - and wouldn't have been there if it hadn't happened. It gives suffering meaning, as opposed to being senseless.

Similarly, the main difficulty I have always had with the Bible is its' insistence that I identify with Christ, which I find I cannot do - I can identify with many of the disciples and other characters, but how could I identify with someone who could raise the dead and really cared about annoying people? But in the end, Christ suffered - as all men do. Unless I am mistaken, I don't think the Bible ever says that his physical pain was the worst possible pain ever (although I have often seen people try to argue that point).

I'm not saying that suffering should make you happy, but it should give you a starting point for seeing through someone else's eyes. And oddly enough, sometimes that makes you happy. And secondly, since we know that sometimes good thing happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people, we can't let that erode our desire for justice. We just have to realize that not everything that seems unfair is something that can be forcefully changed. Sometimes it just needs to be identified with.

More Proverbs

Consider this timely gem:

27:13 Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger;
hold it in pledge if he does it for a wayward woman.

A couple of years ago, when house prices were really high, we kept seeing signs around here for 100% financing, which now is pretty obviously a bad idea. It's becoming clear (at least to banks) that risky people shouldn't get loans. It should have been clear all along - the verse above assumes the reader has a friend who wants to borrow money, but you know he associates with shady people, so the wise thing to do is not to just take his word, make him leave some collateral.

Somewhere I read an account about Laura Ingalls Wilder when she worked approving farm loans in Missouri. It said that she never approved a loan that wasn't repaid. I don't know who that speaks more highly of - her or the people she gave the loans to.

Proverbs

Recently a guy in our Sunday School class at church read the entire Bible in 88 days. He said it took reading for a hour a day. Whew, an hour would have been a big chunk for me even in my pre-Caleb days, but to concentrate on anything for more than 10 minutes these days is a pretty big feat.

Because I began to see how sorely I need wisdom, I started reading Proverbs during my very brief quiet time. As I read through them, I would notice ones I thought really addressed my current life stage, but I also noticed several others that I wished I had time to think over.

While we were in Ft. Myers, we visited a church with a pastor who just oozed motivational speaker and one of his tag lines was that we overestimate what we can do in a short amount of time, but underestimate what we can do in a longer amount of time. I took that to heart, bought a new notebook and set out to read Proverbs - one verse at a time. I am trying to read another passage in addition to that, but there are days when that one verse is all the concentrating I can squeeze out.

Interestingly enough, reading Proverbs this time around has highlighted one thing very unflattering in my life - before I always thought I was reading about someone else being foolish, but this time I felt like I was the fool.

So yesterday's Proverb was verse 27:11 (note: I started in chapter 26) -

Be wise, my son, and bring joy to my heart;
then I can answer anyone who treats me with contempt.

One of my favorite things about the Bible is that it shows how little human nature has changed. Sure we have technology, but although it has changed so much of our lives, it has failed to change who we are at our core. It says clearly here that a child's reputation reflects onto their parent's...and it always has.