Wisdom for sons and daughters
Robert Fulghum said, “All I need to know about life I learned in kindergarten.” I think Proverbs would agree. I found FORTY-TWO, yes 42, “do not” statements in Proverbs and Chapters 10-12 are all about the “don’ts,” in more positive prose. Simple statements on how not to conduct myself. Words of WISDOM all written down by a father to his children. Wisdom for life. Words on how we should treat each other from the highest of society (once called the aristocracy) to the lowest (once called the vulgars—are you kidding me?). How are we to interact with our fellow, “created in the image of God,” man. It is this day to day respect for all people that proves our love for God. Respect is supposed to be given regardless of whether it was “earned” or not, because man is God’s creation. Period.
Respect the monuments
A couple of the “do nots” jumped off the page of this ancient manuscript: Proverbs 22:28 and Proverbs 23:10. The reason? I see this happening with increasing frequency today. Some are disrespecting history. I could not for the life of me have given you a reason I was finding this offensive but I somehow knew deep inside my soul it was just wrong. The destruction of monuments placed by forefathers is disrespectful to those who have gone before us and paved the way for us based on what they knew, learned, or understood at the time. We cannot change history but we should learn from it lest we repeat it. Monuments were placed throughout scripture as reminders of hard learned lessons, in thanksgiving to God, and as visual reminders of our journey with the Lord. Now, I have a Biblical view of monuments. They are not “in your face” reminders of what was done, but they are visual reminders of the costs of the lessons. Most of the time the cost was in blood…….
Arlington
Arlington National Cemetery is a place of beauty. The white headstones stand on 624 acres of emerald green grass. These represent the cost of freedom in our nation. The tomb of the unknown soldier is a monument to those who never came home or who came home and are “unknown.” Their sacrifice is honored here because their life mattered to this country, their family, friends, and comrades in arms. Though their names are not known, the blood they shed cries out from the ground to God and heaven. (Genesis 4:10) This “monument” is sacred to our country and is guarded twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, regardless of weather. The soldiers who guard it do so willing to die to protect it and demand respect for it because of all this place (monument) represents. The first soldiers buried in Arlington were Civil War veterans from BOTH sides of the conflict. Freedom from slavery for all in our country was won here. May we never forget!
Moses in desert
Moses built a monument after crossing the Red Sea. Jacob built a monument after he dreamed a dream and wrestled with God (talk about a conflict). David and Solomon built a temple and its destruction has left the nation of Israel floundering for a place to worship for nearly 2000 years. Hope to rebuild it is in the heart of every Jew.
Caution: Do Not’s
The wisdom of proverbs: DO NOT’s with a purpose. Proverbs 4:6 says, “Do not forsake her (wisdom), and she will preserve you; Love her, and she will keep you.” May we listen to these words of the Lord, penned by a wise man. Wisdom is spoken of as a beautiful woman who should be cherished and loved. May we learn as we did in kindergarten, it was wrong to knock over someone’s blocks. Besides, knocking over the blocks created more problems than it corrected. So, let us not make each other cry, angry, or feel intimidated.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myFMnylgGH0
Blades of Grass and Pure White Stone by Steve
Yvonne Jones
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