“Stay Teachable; Stay Progressive”
“Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life,
but he who rejects reproof leads others astray.” (Prov. 10:17, English Standard Version)
“A traveller to life [is] he who is keeping instruction, And whoso is forsaking rebuke is erring.”
“Education is change, and change is ‘Ouch!'” (Evelyn Huber)
(Proverbs 10:17 Young’s Literal Translation of the Holy Bible)
Proverbs, in any language, are usually very brief and terse. Think, for example, of our saying, “Nothing ventured; nothing gained.” Because they are brief and terse, they are both memorable and (sometimes) cryptic.
What is true of proverbs in general is also true of biblical proverbs and the Book of Proverbs. (There are proverbs throughout the Bible. Hence the distinction between biblical proverbs and the Book of Proverbs.)
The brief and terse proverb that is the basis for this post is fairly clear in its broad contours, but somewhat cryptic with regard to specifics. For example, it is by no means clear whether the proverb warns against rejecting reproof because the person rejecting reproof will go astray, or warning is against leading others astray.
But do we even need to choose? It is hard to be a good GPS for others, when you’re lost yourself! Indeed, it is impossible.
“Reproof” is an old-fashioned word that we don’t use much anymore. The modern equivalent would probably fall somewhere between “correction” and “reprimand.” None of us likes to be corrected or reprimanded, but all of us need that at times. We need to stay teachable over the long haul.
Derek Kidner comments on this verse, in his usual terse and practical manner, so I’ll let him have the final word:
“10:17. Stay teachable, you
stay progressive.” Kidner goes on to
say, “Note that the contrast is between keeping and forsaking: i.e. not only
must instruction be listened to; it must be held fast over a long period.”[1]
[1] Derek Kidner, Proverbs: An Introduction & Commentary, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1964), 88.
“Violence Instead of Justice”
“The violence of the wicked will sweep them away,
because they refuse to do what is just.”
(Proverbs 21:7 The Holy Bible, English Standard Version,
I was struck by the fact that the violence of the wicked destroys the wicked, rather than their victims. This is not to say that the wicked do not often destroy (or at least harm) the innocent. Rather, it is to say that, ultimately, wicked violence destroys the perpetrator of such wicked violence.
Jesus was driving at something very similar when he said, “Those who live by the sword shall die by the sword.” (Matthew 26:52) Jesus said this when Peter tried to deal with Jesus’ imminent arrest by drawing his sword. If ever there was a time to draw the sword, surely this was it. But apparently, Jesus didn’t think so.
This should make us a lot more careful about being violent or unjust ourselves. Do we really want to be swept away by our own violence and injustice?
It should also make us reluctant to be too harsh with those who are violent and unfair. I am not suggesting that such violent and unjust people ought not to be confronted and opposed. They most definitely should be! However, we need to set aside our judgmental and superior attitude. The violent and the unjust are ultimately are ultimately destroying themselves, even as they are destroying others. They have to live with themselves 24/7. And who wants to live with a violent and unjust person? We need to remember this, even as we confront and oppose.
“Aging: The Decision to Open Up and Move On”
Erik Erikson identified a number of developmental life stages. I am in the last one: Ego Integrity vs. Despair. And I have times of both integrity and despair.
But I get to choose, on any given day (and many times during the day as well) whether I will go with integrity or despair.
The other day, I had a good text message exchange with a friend. He was telling me that he was rereading The Road Less Traveled, and that, now that he was older, maybe he would be more open to its message.
I replied, “The aging process is, I think, an invitation to either close up and shut down, or it is an invitation to open up and move on. I’m not sure where I read that, or if I made it up, but I do believe that’s true. However, we have to either accept the invitation to open up and move on, or turn it down.”
And this acceptance or rejection of the invitation isn’t a one-off. No! It must be accepted or rejected many times during the day. Sometimes, the invitations are to open up and move on in big ways. Most often, the invitation involves such small things that it is easy to miss the invitation entirely. These invitations do not come on fancy paper, with gilded envelopes, but all these invitations are significant.
How will I respond to these invitations today? How will you respond?
“God’s Hope”
“For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” (Romans 8:19-21, English Standard Version)
Today’s “3-Minute Retreat” from Loyola Press was based on 1 Corinthians 13:13.
Why is it a problem for God to have hope? It isn’t, IF God doesn’t know the future. This is one of the beliefs of an approach to God called “open theism.” I have some sympathies for that approach, but I still think it is wrong.
In fact, when I asked my wife the question, “Does God hope?” she immediately responded, “How could God hope? He already knows the future.”
However, there are some verses in the Bible that might suggest that God does indeed hope. For example, considering the following verses. I am indebted for these Scriptures (and some very helpful comments) to an excellent online article by the editor of The Baptist Standard. You can read the whole article at https://www.baptiststandard.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-does-god-hope/.
Here are some of the Scriptures that Marv Knox listed, along with some good introductory comments:
“In God, hope abounds
That syllogism—God is love; love hopes; God hopes—seems to be a stretch. But it gets to the clear message of Scripture: God is the source of hope; in God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—hope abounds.
• “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).
• “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe” (Ephesians 1:18-19).
• “… God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:17).
• “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope” (1 Timothy 1:1).”
• “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us …” (Hebrews 6:19-20).
• “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).”
There is not much I can add to Knox’s good comments, except perhaps for this: The Bible clearly portrays hope as a virtue, and as something that God extends to us and requires from us. If God gives hope, the chances are pretty good that God has hope. It is pretty difficult to give anyone something that you don’t have yourself.
“Concerning Short-Cuts and Bright Ideas”
“There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death.” (Proverbs 14:12)
My affirmation for today is “Today, by God’s grace, I am praying the Serenity Prayer at least ten times, and living the prayer all day.”
To live something out, I first need to live in it for a time. There is no shortcut for living in and with someone or something, before I can live that reality out.
And yet, I’m always looking for shortcuts. For example, . . .
. . . on Friday, my wife wanted to go for a short bike ride, so we did. It was cloudy and windy and (for Tampa) cold. But we bundled up and went out for our “short” ride. Straight down S. Newport to the bay. The wind was worse along the bay, but it was at our backs.
When we turned around, I realized immediately that the wind was going to be a problem. So, I had A BRIGHT IDEA! Why not cut inland a few blocks. We would be sheltered from the wind, at least a bit, by the houses.
At first, my decision felt pretty good. The wind and the traffic noise on Bayshore were substantially diminished. Excellent, I thought to myself! I’ve had a bright idea that really is bright.
But the brightness of the idea soon dimmed. The roads along the bay started in one direction, and then took off in another. Some of them were cul-de-sacs. The GPS on my phone stopped working. Finally, I asked a lady out with a stroller how to get to Newport, in Hyde Park. “Hyde Park is that direction,” she said, pointing the opposite way from the direction we had been going for quite some time.
Well, we started off taking her directions. They were good—up to a point. She had told us to turn left on Morrison, but apparently had forgotten that there was another turn before that. However, my GPS now decided to start working. We had already had a good deal more than “a short bike ride,” and my GPS informed me that we were 3.7 miles away from our destination.
My wife was really kind about all this. I think that she could see that I was beating myself up badly for my stupid brilliant idea. We did make it home, I made her some hot tea and myself some coffee, and (after an hour or two) we got warmed up.
“Do me a favor, sweetheart,” I said. “The next time I have a bright idea, or want to take a shortcut, just shoot me.”
There is an old saying in chess: “If you see a good move, sit on your hands.” In other words, “Don’t be premature, baby!”
Bright ideas and shortcuts very rarely are either bright or short. I have heard it said that a shortcut is a quick way to a place no one in his right mind would want to go. And as for bright ideas, they are usually about as bright as a burned-out light bulb. There is no shortcut to anything worthwhile. If I am to live out the Serenity Prayer, I must first live in the Serenity Prayer for a long time. Otherwise, I will miss the right path as sure as shootin’.
“THE KINDNESS OF CHECKING ON PEOPLE”
“But the fruit of the Spirit is . . . kindness . . . .” (Galatians 5:22)
One really nice form of kindness is checking on people.
A good friend, who is also a faithful reader of these blog posts, had his wife send a text to my wife to ask if I was okay. I hadn’t done a blog for a couple of weeks, and he was worried about me.
The truth is that I am both alright and not alright. To some extent, my web silence has been because I’m enjoying the beautiful city of Tampa, Florida. Also, while it is a lovely city, it seems to take at least 30 minutes to get anywhere, so we’ve doing lots of driving. (The only exception is my twelve-step meeting which is only an eleven-minute bike ride away from where we are staying. Sweet!)
Also, I have been working on a scholarly paper, which I am presenting at a conference in a little less than a month. And then, there is going for long walks/runs with the dog. And, of course, when you stay in any place for more than a few days, there are dishes to do, and clothes to wash. Even in paradise, the trash needs taken out a couple of times a week.
But it was good for my friend to check on me. For one thing, it reminded me to get off my lazy butt—or rather, to get on my diligent butt—and write a blog. The laziness has an explanation, but no excuse. The explanation is, at least in part, that I am mourning the closing of the university where I taught as an adjunct for over eleven years. The truth is that I am also feeling rather sorry for myself. Mourning is okay; self-pity, not so much.
Sometimes, though, a friend just checking on you helps to blow up your excuses and your laziness and your writer’s block. Kindness is quiet dynamite.
My challenge today is two-fold: to be grateful for the quiet dynamite that others place under me, and to place some kindness under others. Maybe this blog post will do that for you. You have to light the match, though!
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