Today’s scripture: Proverbs 14:19-27 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Keith Phillips):
I began disliking proverbs when I was a patient at Worcester General Hospital, following a suicide attempt in college. I clearly remember a psychiatrist asking me about the meaning of the proverb: “A rolling stone gathers no moss.” I was keenly aware that my discharge from the unit could depend on my answer, but obviously my mind was muddled and I wondered, “If rolling stones gather no moss, what do Rolling Stones gather?” Fortunately that was not deemed sufficient to declare me insane, so I was released a couple of days later.
I still dislike proverbs. I find them confusing. All too frequently they express life in either/or sayings, which when taken together can be down-right confusing, if not contradictory. For example, verse 20: “The poor are disliked even by their neighbors, but the rich have many friends.” Okay, money can buy you love, but then verse 21 says: “Those who despise their neighbors are sinners, but happy are those who are kind to the poor.” What a minute . . . The poor are disliked by everybody, but those who are kind to the poor are happy. Maybe it means that the poor are disliked by almost everybody, except for happy persons who are kind to them. And it really doesn’t help me when The New Oxford Annotated Bible states in a footnote: “Verse 20 observes a social reality; verse 21 applies to it a moral evaluation.” What? Does that mean that some proverbs describe what is, and others declare what should be? How am I supposed to tell the difference? And how useful is that?
Then to go on, verse 23 says, “Hard work is worthwhile, but empty talk will make you poor” (Contemporary English Version). So, people who are not faithful to their word deserve to be poor? Maybe they deserve to be disliked if they say stuff and don’t mean it, too. And who would want to be kind to poor people who are deceitful?
Okay, proverbs are generalizations that usually are true. Proverbs are conventional wisdom, but sometimes the convention misses the mark. Proverbs may be true; but because they are short and pithy, they simply cannot be “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” A proverb, I think, is only a piece of the truth; a proverb is one perspective on the truth that needs to be balanced with other perspectives, probably with other proverbs.
Isn’t that just like God? The minute I think I have God figured out, an aspect of God that I never anticipated reveals itself. I always have only a piece of the truth about God, not “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” The difference is that God and I are in a mutually loving relationship. Proverbs and I are not.
Thought for today: Previously, the author of Proverbs has encouraged me to seek wisdom. A proverb may be wise, but it can only be a piece of wisdom.
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.