A fool finds pleasure in wicked schemes, but a person of understanding delights in wisdom. What the wicked dread will overtake them; what the righteous desire will be granted. (Proverbs 10:23-24)
This morning’s passage brings to mind all those videos that have been watched millions of times of people doing damage to themselves when some stunt they’re trying goes wrong. I know, pratfalls have been considered “funny” since funny became a thing. I know people who were upset with me because I didn’t appreciate how funny it was to watch a deer attack a dog and listen to the young men in the background laugh and call “Whale” every time a hoof struck. I find myself wondering how we as a society can be expected to care about abused women, children, or pets while laughing at even self-inflicted harm. And then I read, “A fool finds pleasure in wicked schemes.” That describes our society.
I find myself also thinking about what we teach our kids in school. They are told that they are hormone driven little animals who can’t be expected to control themselves, who can’t say “no” to themselves, and then we freak out when they don’t take “no” for an answer. We elevate sexuality to the point where not fornicating on a regular basis is considered abnormal, then bash guys who are trying to do what they’ve been told is normal. And the “wise” people who have taught these things to our children wring their hands and scream that they need more money to fight this plague. What the wicked have dreaded has overtaken them. It is the work of their own hands, and we are the worse for it.
That’s one side of today’s passage. The other side is the person of understanding. I’d like to be a person of understanding. There’s not enough time in the day to study everything I’d like to. But one of the things that I’m coming to understand is that “understanding” does really have so much to do with the world as painted by the world. It has to do with the world as painted by God. I’m not entirely sure how to go about even gaining this understanding because our world has been so upside down for so long that I’m not sure we even recognize how upside down it is.
The last phrase is an example of this. We read “What the righteous desire will be granted.” What we think is that if we’re “good” we should be paid with wealth, or power, or fame, or all three. But what the righteous desire is righteousness.
This morning’s passage brings to mind all those videos that have been watched millions of times of people doing damage to themselves when some stunt they’re trying goes wrong. I know, pratfalls have been considered “funny” since funny became a thing. I know people who were upset with me because I didn’t appreciate how funny it was to watch a deer attack a dog and listen to the young men in the background laugh and call “Whale” every time a hoof struck. I find myself wondering how we as a society can be expected to care about abused women, children, or pets while laughing at even self-inflicted harm. And then I read, “A fool finds pleasure in wicked schemes.” That describes our society.
I find myself also thinking about what we teach our kids in school. They are told that they are hormone driven little animals who can’t be expected to control themselves, who can’t say “no” to themselves, and then we freak out when they don’t take “no” for an answer. We elevate sexuality to the point where not fornicating on a regular basis is considered abnormal, then bash guys who are trying to do what they’ve been told is normal. And the “wise” people who have taught these things to our children wring their hands and scream that they need more money to fight this plague. What the wicked have dreaded has overtaken them. It is the work of their own hands, and we are the worse for it.
That’s one side of today’s passage. The other side is the person of understanding. I’d like to be a person of understanding. There’s not enough time in the day to study everything I’d like to. But one of the things that I’m coming to understand is that “understanding” does really have so much to do with the world as painted by the world. It has to do with the world as painted by God. I’m not entirely sure how to go about even gaining this understanding because our world has been so upside down for so long that I’m not sure we even recognize how upside down it is.
The last phrase is an example of this. We read “What the righteous desire will be granted.” What we think is that if we’re “good” we should be paid with wealth, or power, or fame, or all three. But what the righteous desire is righteousness.
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