There are so many ways to get in trouble! The Proverbs are a great collection of sayings that remind us that wisdom and foolishness lead to clearly different outcomes! This reading reminds us that we live wisely when we have quick hands and a slow tongue. I don’t know how many times I have spoken too quickly. The fallout is almost always bad!
Read MoreHave you ever embarked on a series of actions that you knew were dangerous and bound to lead to some sort of catastrophe? Or perhaps you’ve done something to offend someone you love and then tried to “make it up” to them – giving a gift to pacify their anger. If the person knows that you are honestly sorry for your actions, that gift might be well received.
Read More motives, integrity, disasterWe in the West live in a world where freedom of choice for the individual has become the supreme good. As long as my choice doesn’t hurt anyone else, then I have the right to do as I please (or so the libertarian political doctrine seems to read). There are many things we choose in life; and there are many things that we do not choose – we have little control over them.
Read More reputation, choices, Facebook profileAs I write this the United States just won the Women’s World Cup of Soccer. I am always struck by the irony of thousands of undisciplined fans cheering wildly for a team of athletes who have had to undergo years of disciplined practice, exercise and self-control. These are people who have submitted to regular sacrifice and disciplined preparation for a common goal, while their rowdy fans drink lots of beer, avoid exercise themselves, yet take pride in their team when it wins!
Read More discipline, hard work, parentingWe live in a world of conflict – a world of war. The joke for those mocking beauty pageants is that every contestant desires “world peace”. While most of us would love to see peace across the whole earth, most of us would actually settle for something a bit less ostentatious: peace in our families, work relationships and friendships.
Read More peacemaking, tongue, generosityWe live in a world of strategic and business plans. We set goals, assess our assets, compile our list of obstacles and liabilities and construct plans that will make our boards or shareholders or family or friends or boss happy. We hear the stats that suggest that four out of five new businesses fail in the first five years.
Read More plans, integrity, success, stardom, cheatingNone of us likes to be accused of being lazy. We like to assume that we have worked for and deserve everything good we have received! Our reading today reminds me that there are some attitudes and actions that accompany laziness that may be more common in my life than I would like to admit. One is the propensity to make excuses.
Read More laziness, relational conflict, social mediaMost of us have heard the old expression, “Garbage in, garbage out.” It is an expression that most of us know intuitively to be true, but we don’t always closely watch what we put into our minds. In this reading, the Teacher exhorts us to listen to the words of the wise and to apply our heart to instruction. But the reason isn’t merely for us to be smarter and wiser.
Read More wisdom, knowledgeThere are some things that we do “just because we can.” Freedom of choice is such a core value in our culture. We are libertarian in nature. We fervently believe that the only thing that should limit our choices is if our action adversely effects or hurts another person. But here is where I am pretty naïve – my actions almost always impact another person.
Read More integrity, generosity, povertyWhen was the last time you stole something? We all remember times when we were little and stole a cookie out of mom’s cookie jar, or telephone wire from Bell Telephone for our home made sling shots (don’t ask). But that was a long, long time ago. And the desire to take someone else’s stuff does start when we are young, right?
Read More giver, credit, stealing