Out in the open wisdom calls aloud, she raises her voice in the public square; on top of the wall she cries out, at the city gate she makes her speech: “How long will you who are simple love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? (Proverbs 2:20-22)
The first thought as I read this passage was that I have spent
too much time in the past week or so dealing with a mocker. I suspect I tend to
give my time too often to the simple, the mocker, and the fool. It seems hateful
to me to pin the simple, mocker, or fool label on someone and walk away with my
nose in the air until or unless I’ve given them ample opportunity to turn from
their simplicity, mockery, or foolishness. After all, I know people who think I’m
one or more of those three, and it seems to me their delight to pin labels on
me. That doesn’t usually bother me much, but I can spend hours going back and forth
with someone, knowing that getting through to them would require a miracle for
which I could be inducted into Catholic Sainthood, even though I’m not Catholic.
It’s amazing how easy it is to throw wisdom out the window.
We’re supposed to be loving, so wisdom goes in the trash. We’re supposed to be
kind so who cares about wisdom? We’re supposed to be patient, so what does it
matter if we keep playing someone else’s game? We’re supposed to be Christians
so we feel obligated to take abuse, because maybe it’ll make a difference?
I think I need to be wiser in dealing with people,
especially those who are demonstrated themselves to be mockers and fools. It
seems to me that there are steps to the process:
1)
Pray for discernment to know whether someone will actually
benefit from the information – or is just begging for attention.
2)
Set a reasonable limit during which the discernment is to be
made.
3)
Set a reasonable limit on the time spent “feeding”
attention seekers.
4)
Figure out a good way to withdraw from the conversation
that closes the door on the nonsense while still leaving the door open in the
event the attention-seekers actually seek wisdom.
And perhaps the best thing I’ve gotten out of writing this is the realization that the people with whom I’ve wasted my time are attention-seekers and mockers who try to take advantage of my being "nice" enough to give them attention.
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