The adventure of life is to learn.
The purpose of life is to grow.
The nature of life is to change.
The challenge of life is to overcome.
The essence of life is to care.
The opportunity of life is to serve.
The beauty of life is to give.
A Proverb
This “proverb” that I picked up somewhere in my reading is not from “The Proverbs”. These are great verbs to consider incorporating into our lives this year.
Learn, Grow, Change, Overcome, Care, Serve, Give.
I don’t know how many times I have read the eighth chapter of the book of Proverbs. I stared at the words and one word popped into consciousness—prudence. Why have I not pondered that word before?
The associated thought was the song from the 1968 Beatles “White Album” written by John Lennon to Prudence Farrow, the sister of actress Mia Farrow—Dear Prudence.
There was a time when the fashion was to name girls after positive character traits—Hope, Grace, and yes, Prudence.
But what is prudence? Why should Wisdom, the narrator of the Proverbs, emphasize it?
Prudence is a discipline of oneself, a behavior of minimizing or avoiding risk, making good and careful decisions.
Pause here and reflect on all the hasty and ill-taken decisions taken. They come flooding into my consciousness.
Just as we need to count to ten (or count to ten ten times) before replying to certain statements, a pause before making a final decision on a purchase or a course of action is also, well, prudent.
A person even into their 20s who rush into decisions would look at prudence as crimping their freedom of action. For those of us who have been burned by bad decisions, we have learned prudence. Rushing to decision—or when someone is pressuring us to rush into a decision—usually turns out for the worse.
Prudence. Yes, a worthy character trait to infuse into our lives.
As the story goes, Solomon was about to become king at a young age. God said to him, what would you like? Solomon asked for wisdom. He got enough to fill two books. His renown for wisdom spread through the known world.
Yet his life was a shambles. His son destroyed the kingdom in short order.
Reading through the book of Proverbs every January starts the year off providing a solid foundation for which to build a good life in the new year.
Buried in the beginning of Chapter 4 lies a bit of a warning.
Get wisdom, and whatever else you get, get insight.
Wisdom itself will not provide the righteous and good life. People with PhDs who have no sense about how to live are more numerous than stars you can count at night.
Insight—accurate and deep understanding; the capacity to gain understanding; to perceive clearly or deeply.
Do not merely read through the proverbs. Take some time daily to ponder them. Think about the meaning. Think about how these apply to how I will live today.
Need an example of wisdom without insight and the ability to live out the wisdom—think Solomon.
Don’t be a Solomon. Be like someone who puts wisdom into action—be like Jesus.
If, instead of working on making more money, we spend some time each day contemplating how to serve others better and more creatively, everyone is richer for it.
Earl Nightingale
We can preach, cajole, persuade, argue, scream, and so forth as much as we want, but
People watch who we are which speaks more loudly than our words. Just think if we all worked on serving others better. Building products that help rather than addict. Providing a smile and a meal or a coat. Providing a ride to the doctor. Buying a coffee for the person next in line.
Add your own thoughts. Then go and do.
Reading through the Proverbs gives those of us trying to walk that path of wisdom a sense of optimism. We are with God and God is with us as we live that sort of life.
A news item in todays feed reported an increase of American consumer confidence (after a year of almost all good economic news). The reporter added a caveat—these are opinion polls and Republicans (this year) might be reluctant to say things are getting better at the risk of saying the Democrats were right. I imagine if the roles were reversed, so would be the opinions.
On the other hand, media stokes fear about dangers of artificial intelligence. There is more violence in the Middle East. The war in the Ukraine continues killing or wounding hundreds of Russian soldiers every day while destroying cities and towns. China is (as we say in diplomatic circles) saber rattling about its intentions in Taiwan. How can we be optimistic?
Or as Barry McGuire sang the PF Sloan song in 1965 (all this is hardly new)
[Chorus]
And you tell me over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction
[Verse 3]
Yeah, my blood’s so mad, feels like coagulatin’
I’m sittin’ here just contemplatin’
I can’t twist the truth, it knows no regulation
Handful of senators don’t pass legislation
And marches alone can’t bring integration
When human respect is disintegratin’
This whole crazy world is just too frustratin’
But to live a sane daily life, we need some optimism.
Eve of Destruction, PF Sloan recorded by Barry McGuire
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German Lutheran pastor, who lived and died in the worst of times in Germany:
The essence of optimism is that it takes no account of the present, but it is a source of inspiration, of vitality and hope where others have resigned; it enables a man to hold his head high, to claim the future for himself and not to abandon it to his enemy.
An essential human trait is to “claim the future”, especially for those who live the with-God life. The time is ripe for us to grab this stance.
When I’m serious about studying Christian thought, I love to go to the writers of the first two to three generations of the church. These people were trying to figure out what this new movement meant, what it meant to live with a risen Jesus.
Especially the Desert Fathers were concerned with pride. They knew the power of pride to bring people down.
I’ve been rereading some of the theologians of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. What amazes me is that these very smart and educated men all latched onto certain verses from the Bible and then built a system of theology on them. One source noted that Calvinism is “proved” by these six verses. Meanwhile Arminianism by a different set of six verses.
A few hundred years later a preacher in a small village near my home town was studying scripture and “discovered” a Bible verse. He built a “Biblical Research Institute” and started a movement called The Way International.
What I do find amazing is the hubris of people who read a translation of a translation and then proceed to tell people they know exactly what God thinks.
There is a phrase from French psychologist Émile Coué repeated by Chief Inspector Dreyfus in the Pink Panther movie series—“Every day in every way I’m getting better and better.” (Oh, that was said to help many people, but it didn’t work for Chief Inspector Dreyfus.)
The first step to knowledge is to recognize our lack. Then, dispelling hubris, we learn a little bit more each day. I think we could read Matthew chapters 5-7 everyday for the remainder of our lives and everyday realize something new to apply to our lives.
[Check the beginning of Proverbs Chapter 2.]
A chapter a day for the 31 days of January. (I promise not to write about Proverbs every day, although that wouldn’t be a bad idea. My mind searches too broadly to stay on topic.)
Why read the Proverbs (and actually any other Wisdom literature):
[Note: fear of the Lord does not mean to be afraid, rather, it means living within the awe and reverence of God however you define he/she/it.]
From the Prologue to the book of Proverbs. I couldn’t have said it better. So I won’t try. The types of people you will meet–the wise seek learning, the simple can be taught, the fool shuns learning, the scoffer cynically derides learning.
And Happy New Year 2024. Many blessings to you all for a great year.
Let’s begin the New Year with a proper state of mind and attitude.
How about 31 for 31?
January has 31 days. The book of Proverbs in the Old Testament has 31 chapters. One chapter of wisdom a day for the month of January. That should orient us for success this year.
As a special bonus for yourself, turn to the first book of the New Testament and read Matthew chapters 5-7 as a daily companion. Matthew is firmly in that Jewish wisdom tradition. Called the Sermon on the Mount, this is most likely Jesus’s standard teaching as he traveled the countryside preaching. Ground yourself this core teaching about how to live.
I retired from active soccer refereeing about seven years ago promptly gaining some weight. I started lifting weights which added muscle—and weight. Then Covid plus moving to a new state disrupted my routines not helping.
This year I made slight tweaks in workout and diet. Nothing drastic. Just eating less. Cutting out or reducing greatly foods that add weight (chips and sugary crap). Increasing aerobic intensity a little. Dedicating more effort to resistance training. 104 deg hot tub four days a week (great for metabolic health and longevity). I’ve dropped 12 pounds and more than an inch from my waist. Steel cut oats for more than half of my breakfasts helped drop cholesterol to the low side of good.
You don’t need drastic lifestyle changes unless you need to drop lots of weight. Small changes done consistently make all the difference (assuming no other overriding health issues).
Here are two tips for subtle changes with big impact. Ten fruits and ten foods added to your diet replacing ultra-processed and sugary foods.
Ten Fruits
Ten Foods
Former US President Jimmy Carter tells about interviewing with Admiral Rickover the leader of the nuclear-powered submarine fleet for a position after graduating from the US Naval Academy. Rickover asked him, “Have you always done your best?” Carter reflected and answered honestly, “No, I have to say I haven’t.”
That led to a resolution to always do his best. (And immediately brought to mind several, or many, times I’ve failed to do my best.)
Writer and venture capitalist Om Malik says (about surviving a heart attack 16 years ago), “I often ask myself: am I making the most of this additional time? Why am I wasting time on meaningless things? Today, I’ve pondered this a lot. If I’m honest, I admit I do need to make a few adjustments.”
This week as we look forward to a new year and perhaps a new start these questions are a great launching for reflecting on where we go from here.
Kind hearts are the garden,
kind thoughts are the roots,
kind words are the blossoms,
kind deeds are the fruits.
John Ruskin
We are approaching the end of a year and the beginning of a new one. Think not of New Year’s Resolutions or goals. Or even “I resolve to be a kinder person next year.” These never succeed.
No, rather, look at yourself. What sort of person are you? What sort of person would you like to be? Perhaps write in your journal or calendar (diary) a brief description of the person you would like to be. Here is a suggestion. Write, I will be the sort of person who
At the conclusion of the year, people will say about me, “there went a kind person.”
Gary Mintchell
Faith Venture 