Skip to main content

Brothers

             One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys. (Proverbs 18:9)

            The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. (Attributed to Edmund Burke, among others.)

            I go to work. It’s over 80, with no air conditioning, and the full-time cashier has been keeping the place basically clean (keeping in mind that it’s a greenhouse, which means “barn” for plants.) I struggle this time of year because there’s not much I can do. And then there are some high school and college students who come to work and spend time on social media, liking everyone’s posts so they won’t seem mean, or otherwise looking at their phones. As I read today’s verse in the light of my current workload, I cringe. Am I being slack in my work? I want to think I’m not, but I could be actively seeking another job where it’s air-conditioned and I can be busy all day.

            As I read today’s verse and the quote that comes to mind, I think of something I’ve mentioned before. While being slack in one's work is not being the person who destroys, it’s closer to that (a brother to it) than it is to someone who looks after the well-being of one’s home, family, employer, etc.  We may not lift a finger to help the destroyer, but neither do we do much to stop him, or to aid the one who builds up. We may claim that we don’t hate anyone, but that doesn’t mean we love anyone either. To not be negative is not the same as being positive. Zero is closer to negative than it is to positive. While it might be positioned equally distant from both -1 and 1, moving toward 1 requires effort, whereas moving toward -1 simply involves giving in to temptation.

            So, the one who is slack in his work is a brother to the one who destroys, and the one who doesn’t love is a brother to the one who hates.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more