Learning How to Share.

Proverbs 1: 1-6 (Not just for my Christian Family) - "A Manual for Living - These are the wise sayings of Solomon, David's son, Israel's king—Written down so we'll know how to live well and right, to understand what life means and where it's going; A manual for living, for learning what's right and just and fair; To teach the inexperienced the ropes and give our young people a grasp on reality.There's something here also for seasoned men and women, still a thing or two for the experienced to learn—Fresh wisdom to probe and penetrate, the rhymes and reasons of wise men and women."

   I am hesitant to write this particular blog. I promised some I would try not to be overly churchy.  And I've found, as you can read in "Being Selfish," that the more I write the more self conscious I become.  I know that it's important to be who you are. I know that we each need to be confident in our beliefs and to speak out on what we think is important. Really though, are any of us not a little worried about the muddled mess expression has become?  In the proverbic words of Run-D.M.C. "It's tricky."

   This is exactly what I think of when I read the above proverb (the actual Proverb.) It makes me sad when I read the wisdom of the words I find in my Bible. When I read through the Bible's proverbs I realize that they are just as the intro says - a manual for living. So what makes me sad?

   The Christian community, myself included, is a significant contributor to that muddled mess of expression. It's become a dangerous place to say what's really on your mind and it can cost you heavily if you run in the church crowd. 

   Try this experiment; tell someone who is not of the Christian faith a bit of wisdom from the proverbs. Find a way to put it in todays verbiage. They will likely nod their head and happily agree with you. Then mention that you read it from the bible or got it from church. Notice how the tone of the conversation changes. 

   We have for so long made the wisdom of our beliefs about us and about being right. We've enforced those ideas by excommunicating people, judging people and butchering the emotional state of anyone who is not one of us. 

   Other proverbs found in belief systems from all over the world look very similar to ours. Just try that little experiment on one of us. See how many Christians would tell you that your identical wisdom is going to send you to hell because you didn't get it from our Bible.

   I'm not talking religion here. I am not trying to promote universalism. Those are topics for another day. What I am saying is that wisdom is wisdom. Good teaching is good no matter where it came from. It makes me sad that we (Christians) have so jaded our contributions with our own agendas that the great wisdoms we have to offer are often disregarded and in some circles down right despised.

   In my travels I've found pockets of people who have discovered these same things. Some of us are trying to live lives not centered around ourselves. I hope the idea of giving freely what we have will grow. The Bible's proverbs have a tremendous amount of basic and very applicable wisdom. From jobs, to relationships, to money, and success, to peace and love, they are full of really good ideas.

   Can we grab hold of the central belief in Christianity that life is not about us? That it is about love. Can we learn to share what we have freely? Can we offer the goodness given (freely I might add) to us to anyone and everyone regardless of whether they do or don't believe in our Jehovah?

   We claim Christianity is about love, that God is love. What is more loving than to give the good we have with out condition?

- Latsum


P.S. - No, "proverbic" is not a word. I made it up. Yay for the joys of creation.