Here are just a few proverbs that, if carefully considered, will bring you some valuable insights. I have deliberately neglected to discuss them in order to allow your own thinking to unfold them with their multiple truths.
1. The two great disappointments in life are: (1) not getting what you want, and (2) getting it.
2. It's not about you.
3. [more to come]
Concluding the wisdom in the Book of Ten Sayings is a truth that many people know from experience, yet who never mention it in company. The Tenth Saying is to be repeated every morning and every night, as part of your prayers to God to search your soul and tear out all the Pride, for ,
Pride is my self-made supreme enemy
If you, like many of us, want to stay away from sin and evil, then we need to eschew effectively the sin of Pride. In the old days, a list of sins was made, with Pride as the first sin listed, along with six others, These sins, named The Seven Deadly Sins, were considered especially bad because they could be used to tempt others to sin.
The Seven Deadly Sins are
Pride
Anger
Lust
Greed
Gluttony
Envy
Sloth
Notice how Pride can be the stimulus for each of the other Deadly Sins:
Pride to Anger: "Hey, Anger, that guy called you a chicken for not helping him beat up that guy who took your coffee mug. I mean, who does he think he is?"
Pride to Greed: "Hey, Greedo. I hear Sloth is about to quit. Let's go talk to the boss and see of we can divide Sloth's salary between us. I figure 70% for me and 30% for you is just right and fair."
Pride to Envy: "Hey there, Envy. It must really be a downer to know that Lust is dating Greed. I mean, my room is all the way down the hall, but I can still feel the floor shaking when those two are enjoying a late night snack."
Pride to Gluttony: "Howdy, there, Glut-man. Did Sloth invite you to his party? No? I can't imagine why not. He told me he was ordering 17 Extra Large fully laden pizzas with triple stuff, for only 6 people. Wow. Sloth must not think much of you."
Pride to Lust: "Hey, babe. You look hot tonight. I wonder why Anger keeps telling everybody that you're just "makeup and mirrors," and that if you ever had a real thought, you wouldn't even recognize it."
Pride to Sloth: "Hi there, Sloth-skee. I missed you at the party at Lust's room over the weekend. I mean, it was totally wild. I did ask where you were, and Envy said she hoped you were sick. I said that such a comment was uncalled for, and then Greed said, "It takes time to visit the whole town."
Here are just some of the words used to apply to Pride. Note that they are not complimentary:
vain, egotistical arrogant, haughty, self-important, boastful, smug, me, me, me, me.
Number 9 in the Book of Ten Sayings reminds us that developing, building, and caring for human relationships are our primary responsibilities here on this planet. Several sayings stimulate our memories or touch around the margins, but the one that singularly hits home is,
Always forgive, including yourself.
We have landed in such a bizarre landscape that we don't know how to react to others, especially when the insults and criticism by which they have wronged us seem so arbitrary, ill informed, and exaggerated. The Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," sometimes requires some translating from the 17th Century English of the King James Version; but a plain text translation nearly always puts the postmodern and the simple into an understanding, if not agreeing, frame of mind. But this Saying 9 goes further.
The true and deep reminder implied in this Saying is that we should spend our lives in service to others, enhancing the lives of others and leaving all of them just a little better than we found them. These acts of charity can be small and brief, (pick up a piece of litter and toss it into a trash can, smile warmly and say hello to a stranger, give a cup of cold water to someone who thirsts ("And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward" Matthew 10:42), but though small, they will be significant acts as indicators of character.
How many times have you watched a young person make a face at the prospect of cleaning up a dirty kitchen and protest, "I'm not going to clean up someone else's mess. I didn't leave that dirt pile so I'm not going to clean it up."
Then, just as you are getting ready to take an extra dose of your analgesic medicine so you can bend over enough to pick up the trash without too many shooting pains down your back, shoulders, and legs, another young person grabs a broom and and says, quite energetically, "Hey, let's go for it!"
When Jesus was asked which Commandments he thought were the most important, he said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." Then he added, "The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these" (Mark 12:30-31). Jesus then clarifies to just whom the word neighbor applies. It's YOU.
In the Book of Ten Sayings, The Ninth Saying,
Always forgive, including yourself.
reveals its critical importance in the philosophy of human happiness.
+If you don't forgive others who wrong you, it is unlikely that you will ever be happy in any free and open sense. You will always have a few grudges to feed. You will be a slave to resentment. Taking the high road often leads to a cliff, and if your self-righteousness puts your nose too high in the air, you might just become airborne with a hard landing.
+If you don't forgive others, Jesus says that God won't forgive you for your sins. Note that this warning is made in the the process of teaching the Lord's Prayer, which the Lord gave to the Disciples (and hence, all the world) as a model prayer. In Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus says,
Our Father, who is in heaven,
May your name be kept holy.
May your kingdom come
May your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our debts
As we forgive our debtors.
Lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil,
For yours is the kingdom,
And the power and the glory
For ever. Amen..
Jesus clarifies one of the points in the prayer. Commenting on forgiveness, Jesus says, "For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions."
+Forgiving yourself is an important concept. Too many people who nurture hostile feelings against others, based on long ago affronts or slights eventually come to think of themselves as guilty--only in part, of course--and much of their peace and quiet is steadily eroded. After all. if it's worth nursing a lifelong grudge against the kid who wrecked your bike, what kind of guilt is deserved for someone who stole an expensive camera years ago?
There is a saying among the thoughtful and circumspect, that regarding the offenses people take from and give to each other, the best advice for healing wounds, solving anger, and regaining peace is, "To know all is to forgive all." In other words, we are often incapable of understanding who is the victim and who is the perpetrator, or how much responsibility for the breach of peace belongs to each person. "If you really knew what went on," these experienced observers say, "you would forgive everyone. For all are guilty."
Some readers will find this next saying ridiculous. They will say, "Why constrain yourself to an old-fashioned concept such as truth? Limiting you options up front by declaring that you will avoid all non-truths is just not workable in our current era. But we stand by the truth, believing that it provides the optimal choice.
Always prefer Truth.
Truth is a shockingly powerful and uniquely dangerous concept, not just in itself and for what it can do, but as a tool of manipulation. As you strengthen your resolve to be a friend of truth and an advocate for her cause, ponder deeply these cautions and ask yourself if you can be sufficiently brave.
A. The truth will set you free, but many are interested in neither truth nor freedom. Truth is too painful and freedom too fearful to accept.
B. When Jesus says that "the truth will will make you free" (see John 8:31-38) he means that the truth will set us free from slavery to sin. He does not mean that we will be free of all restraints and moral rules. We will be free to obey his commandments and to live a moral, spiritual life serving God.
C. Few people believe something that they want to be false.
D. Among the living, fame and reputation rise from publicity rather than from excellence.
E. The law may say, "Yes," when righteousness says, "No," for the law is in the hands of men and righteousness belongs to God.
F. What seems and what is differ often. If you are content to live a life of appearances, why do you care about truth?
In classical art, Truth is often depicted as a naked woman, who bares her beautiful body because she has nothing to hide. Nothing needs to be covered or patched up or hidden. If she dealt in cliches, she would quote, "What you see is what you get." Disguise and painting over flaws are simply not necessary or even desired. Falsehood, on the other hand, is represented with a plenitude of disguises, including enough makeup to cover a bridge, enough clothing to open a discount warehouse, and enough phony airs to fill the curriculum of a school for con artists.
The advice for those who want to build truth into the foundation and walls of their lives is
+ Test the truth claims. In a postmodernist world culture such as ours, many people are happy to spin their own "narratives," which replace an accurate and objective account of things (formerly known as "truth").
+If you weaken and give up on truth, what you'll have left is a set of absurd ideas forced upon a culture adrift morally, economically, politically, and spiritually.
The seventh entry in the Book of Ten Sayings might appear to be simple, but it actually counsels us to deep and ongoing thought, thorough and penetrating analysis. The saying is,
Look
to the end.
1. "Look to the end" is a reminder that whenever we have a decision to make, we must look to the overall goal or purpose. Asking, "Why are we doing this?" can save money, reputation, health, and even life. Asking, "Why should I want to do this?"--that is, asking the question before you engage in the action, can be even more valuable.
2. "Look to the end" reminds us that our lives here on this planet have expiration dates, and considering the sum total of our input and output should help us organize all of the major (and many of the minor) tasks of life.
3. "Look to the end" encourages us to think about the effects the idea or plan or activity will have on other people.
4. "Look to the end" stimulates us to ask, "And then what?" What will happen after the idea or activity is first acted on? And then what? Just what are the consequences? This saying is one of the most powerful because we notice that many people draw conclusions or make decisions based on the single effect deriving from the chosen solution. Cause, effect. But a little investigation often reveals that what we would really have is Cause, Effect, Effect, Effect, Effect, Effect. Many of these effects were not foreseen after only a shallow analysis was given to idea or decision.
5. "Look to the end" is fundamentally a call to think about the long term consequences of decisions or proposed actions. Short term effects, even when not filtered by hopeful thinking, nearly always look great. But what about next year or next decade?
6. And of course, "Look to the end" is whispered in our minds as we are encouraged to contemplate not only our life plan but our death plan. It is said that your view of death determines how you live. If you think that your life or earthly existence ends with your death, you will likely live for yourself, but if you think that your life, your soul or spirit, continues after you check out of Motel Earth, then you will likely learn to live and choose with the benefit of others in mind.
And here is the cosmic irony: Selfish people tend to be much less happy than unselfish people. Selfish people spend their time trying to maximize their own happiness. As a consequence, they see others as means to that end. They exploit and use others to get what they think will benefit them most. And when they recognize that they are not happy, they soon they embark on the spiral down to misery. "Being selfish hasn't made me happy, " they they think, "so what I need is to be a lot more selfish." As the teenagers say, "Yeah, like that's gonna work."
Being circumspect (circum=around, spect=looking) means that we should examine our position and know where we stand--that is, how and why we include the values in our personal set of beliefs. "What do I stand for, what do I truly value, and do my words and behavior reflect that?"
Implied in this saying is the Christian virtue of Hope, one of the seven Christian virtues, and the classical virtue of Prudence (also known as Wisdom).
Posted
by Robert Harris at 8:27 PM
The
sixth entry in the Book of Ten Sayings reminds us what an amazing amount of
control we have over our reactions to and feelings about the events of our
lives. The Sixth Saying is
"Not
the event, but the attitude."
Let's
begin the discussion with a short story I
wrote a while back. THE STRANGE ADVENTURE Once upon a time, so long ago that it
seems like yesterday, circumstances so occurred that two youths found
themselves lost together in the desert and forced to spend the night without
the services of modern technology.
“What
a terrible thing,” said the first one. “We’re stuck out here all alone among
who knows what frightening stuff.”
“This
is great,” said the other. “What an adventure. I can’t wait to see what
happens.” As the light began to fade, the youths happened upon a snake, sitting
on a rock to get the last warmth it could find before the cold night set
in.
“Oh,
no!” said the first youth. “Out here it’s just one problem after another. Now
we’ll have to worry about that snake crawling all over us as we sleep.”
“What
a great opportunity,” said the second youth. “Now we can have some dinner.”
Soon the snake was roasting on an impromptu fire, and in a little while, the
two youths began to eat.
“This
is horrible,” said the first youth, spitting out the meat and nearly vomiting.
“I can’t imagine a worse thing.”
“Actually,
it tastes rather mild,” said the second youth, eating with relish.
When
the next day came and the youths were rescued, they were asked about their
adventure. “It was the most awful, horrible experience I’ve ever had,” said the
first youth, trembling from the memory. “I’ll be mentally scarred by it for the
rest of my life.”
“It
was great!” said the second youth. “I think it’s the best thing that ever
happened to me. What a fun time. I’m so glad I was there.”
z The events we experience are less important than the
meaning we give to them, for life is about meaning, not experience.
Suppose
you are at a friend's house and you bump your head on an open door of a kitchen
cabinet. Are more likely to minimize the event and tell your friends that you
are okay or are you more likely to launch into a long complaint, in a tone of
voice that makes your physical suffering very clear, and emphasizing how much
it hurts and hoping it won't need stitches or leave a permanent scar? If you
were in the market, which of those two people would you rather marry? If you
are one of those highly emotive people, what do you accomplish in each case? If
you bring the focus onto yourself and claim to be important enough for everyone
to focus on and sympathize with, what does that tell others about yourself?
A
great way to improve your attitude toward all the events in you life is to
humble yourself and realize that there are more significant events than your
broken fingernail or stained shirt occurring every day and night all over the
world. Get serious and stop thinking, "What about me?" every time you
talk or listen. Yes, your life, heart, and soul are important to God (which is
why he has created a way through Jesus for those who love him to live with him
in eternity), but to the world itself, you are just not that important.
What
makes some people so cheerful all the time (or at least positive), while others
are always glum and suspicious? For some, if not many, they have decided to
serve God in everything. Their attitude changes from, "Get someone else to
do that," or "I'm not going to help," "Don't expect me to
clean that up," to "I'll be glad to do that," "It's only
mud, and skin is washable," "Looks as if we will be on this job for a
while." You can see the difference in their faces and behavior. The
"will do" people are happy--yes, happy--washing dishes, cleaning the
floor, changing the oil, chopping the firewood, or whatever. The "that's
too much work" folks are grumpy and negative, suspicious that you are
trying to get them to do extra work.
Back
in the old, old days, before beginning work or a new project, people would
always say, "To the glory of God," dedicating their hard and honest
work to the Lord. Did that make their projects or tasks easier? Their labors
needed the same number of buckets of floor mop and the same number of two-by-fours
for the barn, but the tasks were indeed easier because their attitude was
entirely different. They cheerfully labored to please God rather than to just
get through the hateful task. If you already know God, adjust your attitude to
that of a joyful servant. If you don't known God, you have an important first
task.
Blaise
Pascal says, "Let them recognize that there are only two kinds of person
whom we can describe as reasonable: those who serve God with all their heart
because they have found him, and those who seek him with all their heart
because they have not found him."
Posted
by Robert Harris at 12:08 PM No
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The
fifth of the ten deepest statements of wisdom, that, if followed as a set of
life guiding principles, will bring both joy and courage, strength and justice,
circumspection and maturity to whoever strives to live by them. As with many
principles for finding wisdom, this fifth saying involves decision making, for
life is all about making decisions, and the better the decisions the more
successful and happier the life. The fifth saying is,
The more you get, the more you have; the more you give, the more you are.
The
fourth timeless truth in the Book of Ten Sayings is one that our impatient and
fearful age needs to meditate on. The fourth saying:
This
too shall pass.
The
traditional story is that an ancient Persian king once ordered his wise men to
invent a saying that would be true and applicable to every time and in every
season, a saying that would comfort him in times of sorrow and temper him in
times of joy, a saying upon which he could meditate profitably regardless of
his situation, or what he faced, or how he felt. The saying they brought him
was, "This too shall pass."
Sometimes
quoted as, "This, too, shall pass away," the meaning is the same: We
live a life of fixed, limited duration. The only things of permanence are the
lasting effects we have on those around us. We die and pass away, and move to
another realm where our attention is exclusive, giving us no time to look back
to earthly life to give warning or direction. But if instead we seized our
hours and minutes while here and employed them to help others live better
lives, enjoy their time here, find meaning in life, come to know God, and for
the ultimate benefit, find the Savior to take them with the rest of us into the
heavenly realms, then we will have led a life that sneers in the face of evil
and transitoriness. It would be a life worth living, however long or
short.
So,
"This too shall pass" is both a warning and a promise. Understanding
this truth allows us to see it as the match that can light the candle of hope,
set ablaze the torch of endurance, and illuminate the beacon of patience. If
only people would pay attention and remind themselves of this bit of wisdom and
allow themselves to be cautioned by it and show a little patience, how many
ships would have been spared from sinking among the rocks of haste, the
insistent pinch-in-the-shoe of eagerness, the and out-of-fuel crash of going
for broke (or rather, going for self-termination) by accident?
This
is another one of those two-edged proverbs that can cut both ways, possessing
meaning in multiple directions. As focused on and explicated in the notes
above, the saying is indeed an encouragement to persevere in the face of
challenge. But sometimes extended physical suffering or psychological trauma or
chronic painful physical suffering or emotional rejection can force a person to
call upon this wise summary of humanity and be reinvigorated.
Finally,
"This too shall pass" serves us just as well when, in the middle of
joy and celebration and love and adventure, we remember that the experience
will soon be over and we will return to our previous lives. No, it does no good
to yell at he conductor, "Make it stop!" when we feel the ride
slowing down when we want it to go on forever. Are you winning? Are you losing?
Are you happy? Are you sad? This too shall pass. Implied in this saying is the
Christian virtue of Hope, one of the Seven Classical Virtues.
Posted
by Robert Harris at 5:40 PM No
comments:
What is
the third most important saying of all time, one that will encourage wisdom and
happiness, justice and equity? The saying is,
"It
is not right to do evil in order to bring about good."
This
saying is, first, a warning against moral short cuts, against choosing
expediency over morality; for such is the great temptation of man, whether the
temptation presents itself as covetousness, lust, greed, a handy lie, the
imitation of justice, or any other dash around the right way. Secondly, this
saying entails another classical guide to wisdom: "Truth is always
best." Whatever you suffer from telling the truth or doing the right
thing, you will never have to add to your punishment the mental and physical
tortures of guilt when your devious plan explodes in your face. The pain of
knowing that you tried to fool, deceive, lie, cheat, steal, con another person
only to see it shatter other people's lives as well as your own--that pain will
not be there if you always told the truth. This Third Saying also embraces the
Bible's commandment, "You shall not bear false witness."
Some
shrewd but sad person once noted that if you tell the truth, the supporting
(true) explanations come automatically; whereas if you tell a lie, you must
think of two other lies to support, excuse, and explain every other lie that
brings credibility the other lies. The exponentiation cannot be long sustained:
The main lie needs two lies to make it believable. Each of those two lies needs
two lies to explain them. Each of those requires two lies to keep the falsehood
afloat.
If
civilization were honest and clear thinking, this saying could be summed up by,
"Do only good." But since men are crafty and would soon claim that
some expedient horror would actually be the "moral equivalent of a greater
good," we must take care to avoid any ambiguity.
Implied
by this saying is the classical virtue of Justice. If you sit back and do some
deep contemplation of this Third Saying, you will soon discover that it is a
clearer and more straightforward way of saying, "The means cannot be
justified by the ends," or, as more commonly phrased, "The ends do
not justify the means."
The Second Saying in the Book of Ten Sayings
Introduction This "book" was intended to be an entire book when first conceived, consisting on an elaboration of the ten most important sayings of all time. But life circumstances have held it back into a very incomplete form. In spite of that, perhaps there is a kernel of wisdom somewhere here that will resonate with you and help you to grow into a better person and friend.
