Skip to main content

Really Real


The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair; for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young— let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance— for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. (Proverbs 1:1-7)

        In a Postmodern society, wisdom is seen as micro-aggression or even aggression used to oppress others. Feelings and raw experience are valued for themselves, not for the wisdom they bring. Kids scold those who dare advise against a planned course of action or who dare to mention the mistakes of those youth. Clear thinking is not taught because they believe that anything that is believed makes the argument invalid.
       This passage makes it clear what Solomon believed was the foundation of philosophy, knowledge, wisdom and (I suspect) life: the fear of the LORD. This is another point at which the Postmodern society generates difficulty for those who believe it. For the Christian, the LORD is the One who is really real, the uncaused Cause, the Underived from which all else is derived. It makes sense to respect (AKA fear) Him and that reality. Our society teaches us that we needn't respect anything as being Ultimate. God doesn't exist. We are just recent accidents in a long, long line of accidents. The idea of anyone, let alone Someone, being the source of wisdom, discipline, knowledge, etc., is despicable. So is living in accordance with that wisdom and discipline. In other words, by definition, Postmodernism is foolishness.
       If you wish to be wise, you must begin with the most basic, the most fundamental, the most really real - what is so real that everything else is imaginary in comparison. You must begin with God, or at least with what you believe to be god and you must respect (fear) Him because He is that which is really real. What He says is more real than the "reality" we see. That is why we must walk by faith not by sight.

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
On the Calendar

Birthday of Grover Cleveland and Rimski-Korsakovv

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Way, The Truth, and The Life

              Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me . (John 14:6)           If “I am the gate of the sheep…I am the good shepherd” from chapter 10 is a double whammy, this verse is a triple whammy. And its first victim is the notion that any other so-called god was acceptable or the same as Jesus. He, and He alone is the way, the truth, and the life, and the only way to get to the Father. There is no other Savior, or Redeemer, according to Jesus. Now, to be fair, other religions will claim that their religion or god(s) are the only way. That is the nature of gods and of religions. If this and that are equally good and agree on what’s necessary, then this and that are the same thing, so there’s no need to from the other to one. If that’s the case, then why speak against the other or promote the one? There’s a song I’ve been listening to i...
Post a Comment
Read more