Recognizing Wisdom--by Linden Malki

The world has always had those who recognize wisdom, and those who don't. It started with the very beginning; the first advice we have on record involves a tree, a man, and God. Wisdom often includes warnings: this one did. One problem is that not every source of advise is wise, and one reason is that advice can be biased in favor of only one side of the conversation. Eve--and Adam--made an unwise choice, and we are all faced with the problem of recognizing wisdom and folly when it presents itself to us.

The primary source of wisdom is God; there are occasions where He does speak directly to people. Not everyone believes or recognizes this, but there are records and descriptions that, to the best of our knowledge, indicate that it has happened, and the results are consistent with the message. For example, Abraham and Moses lives and legacies are consistent with their experiences of God's communication with them.

Another source of wisdom is information taught by people who have a track record of giving good advice.  One thing that goes along with this is recognition of bad advice when it is offered.  This usually requires some previous information; your own experience or that of others, that you can compare with new the information, and judge whether it is confirmed by your own experience or sources you trust, or not. We are flooded with information, and need to know how to evaluate it; recognizing that what we hear varies widely in truth or not.

The whole question of wisdom is related to trust: how do we know who and what to trust? Do we know how to cross-reference information, to learn to observe the world around us to see how it works, and think logically? Do we know how to look ahead and estimate the results of things we are asked to do or believe? Do we know how to see things not just black/white, but to know the conditions when they might actually be different?  For example, I grew up in snow country, and had to learn how do deal with varying road conditions. When we lived up in Devore, I was driving home one night and when I turned onto a road going toward the mountain, it was covered in snow. I was interested to see that my brain noticeably and automatically clicked onto "snow", and knew how to change my driving procedure. We need to be aware of what we know, what we think, how to recognize reality, and to know that we don't know everything--but we do know Who does!









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Nothing New about Crisis--by Linden Malki

History has always been a record of crisis. We don’t realize how fortunate we’ve been; most of the recent outbreaks we’ve had have been limited to a smaller subculture and didn’t impinge on everybody, and settled down to being “under the radar.” The medical advances of the last few decades have made it seem too easy. A few generations ago it was common for every family to go through all of their kids having measles, mumps, chicken pox, maybe even rheumatic fever or scarlet fever. I can recall having such a heavy rash that my face was one giant dark-red measle, and spent about three weeks in bed with the lights low (visual damage was one of the possible side effects. My older daughter had all five variations of measles at one time or another; I recall the doctor calling one of them “fifth disease” because they gave up naming them. There was even a song that our Sunday School kids sang for Christmas programs called “Santa, I Hope You’ve Had Measles”. And the rate of lasting side effects was significant.

The last major epidemic disease scare in the US was polio, which was curtailed by the Salk vaccine in 1954. I recall the summers when parks and pools were closed. The worst year was 1949, with 2720 deaths and over 42,000 cases reported. Some of us still recall family members or friends who were affected; one of my father’s sisters was on crutches and braces for most of her life.

Some of the major epidemics and plagues in the Bible include cholera, bubonic plague, smallpox, typhoid, typhus and measles. After the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines, it was associated with an outbreak of bubonic plague there, and was returned with small sculptures of mice and boils. The Assyrian army that besieged Jerusalem was destroyed by a plague carried by mice. I found references in the Gospels of 18 specific incidents (mentioned in one or more Gospels) of dramatic healings by Jesus, in addition to mentions of more mentioned without specific detail. We can see here what the people of that culture lived with, and that Jesus has the power to heal.  And we still see occasions of healings that are beyond medical knowledge, even today. For whatever reason, God has allowed disease and disabilities since the earliest histories we have, and has shown His power over them as well. . It could be that we need imperfections to keep us balanced as a society; crisis brings out both good and evil in us. (This is one of those questions for the day that we hope all will be explained.)

Best of Friends by Linden Malki

"Friends" are one of the reminders that God created us for relationships. Everything--even microscopic creatures of all kinds reproduce and share their DNA in some way. Most plants require another plant to pollinate, and even ones that self-pollinate reproduce. Animals of all kinds reproduce with some sort of connection with another creature of the same or related species, most of which are families in some sense. The most complex relationships are those of the most complex creation--us. Where we usually see God at work is that family relationships are not merely biological, but have a major emotional connection as well; ideally good; but some are dysfuntional, often ones with no relationship or unhealthy relationships with God. 

But this is not the only kind of relationship we have, and it is one we don't realize the power and importance involved.   We not only have families, but we have friends; people with whom we have no biological relationship. Some of  the earliest Biblical mentions of God's relationship with special people were those like Noah, Abraham and Jacob, that God used to develop His relationship with humanity.  Often our closest friends are those with whom we share faith and a relationship with God. We can work together on God's tasks, and we can help each other when bad things happen, even to good people.  These truly are "brothers and sisters" in God's kingdom.

The other side of this coin is that, being human, we may fail our friends, and sometimes this is serious enough to cause not only pain in what used to be a close friendship, but may spread to others who find themselves being dragged into a mess not of their making. Some of the most painful situations involve dishonesty, slander, injury, betrayal, jealousy, ambition, anger, sabotage--we all have our own list.  What is really upsetting and sad is when a church is damaged by serious sin, from the inside, outside, or both. Sometimes we can see it coming, and sometimes not. Sometimes we can help calm the storm; I once had two neighbors who were having affairs with each others' siblings, and I was one of the few people who was on minimal speaking terms with both the injured parties--and was able to squelch a nasty, exaggerated rumor. Once in awhile we get to do something good in this sort of situation: as Jesus said, Blessed are the Peacemakers!

Getting out of Life what we put into it with Love--by Linden Malki

         

God, You created us with the ability to make what we need out of what You provided, but also with the knowledge to do it according to Your design. We can make it right, or we can make it badly. You create us as babies, and give us to parents to love, teach, and take care of.  We have the capacity to learn,but not always in the same way. This world was created to use all of the different talents and abilities that we are provided, but we need to put our efforts and talents to work. We need to provide the teaching and opportunities for our children to learn and make use of the talents each is given.  We also need to use the teaching of others to give our kids the best shot at learning and working.

I was given an opportunity to see this in action this week.  My four kids grew up working; we had a business, and they spent time helping and learning . My older daughter could check in a shipment when she was six, and ran my office when she was in high school. We moved the store several years ago, and she found some tax form copies that she had filled out and filed when she was fourteen. She has a degree in finance, and is an accountant with as much work as she can do, still doing my accounting and taxes (and occasionally mentions things still does the way I taught her).

When my younger son was sixteen, he went up the street to an art supply store, and talked them into hiring him. At the beginning, he commented that selling a tube of paint was similar to selling spark plugs, which he already knew how to do. He worked there for the rest of high school, and when he was in college, he worked for a similar store near the Chapman University campus. He has gone on to writing, film, an online comic strip, several books, and other creative things. The other day, one of the people from the local art store came by my store to give us a flier advertising a closing sale, as the current owner has serious health issues, and asked me to pass the word to my son David. He came out to see them yesterday, and mentioned that there were things he had learned there that he still uses often. It is a reminder that "work" is more than drudgery; it should involve learning skills that we can use for the rest of our lives, starting from the beginning.  We need to understand that work skills are part of the legacy that we pass on to our own children, and others that we have the opportunity to work with.

The Family Circle by Linden Malki

"God so loved the world that He gave His Son..." 
This is one of the most recognized verses in Scripture, and it says a surprising amount when we really look at it.  First, God didn't just put a world together and walk away. There is something He did that is foundational to our world: He loves it, which indicates that He loves us. The love of a Father is one of the most basic, and yet one of the most difficult things for us to deal with. What do we actually know about Him?  That He is One God, and He wants to have a special relationship with us. We are not allowed to make any representation of Him; we are to be very careful as to what we do in His Name, and we owe Him a day of worship and attention. 

He has given us something else: we are to live in families; with fathers and mothers who are to be honored. We are brought into this world by parents, who at best are representatives of God. Parenting is not easy; we are all separate indivuals but have characteristics and obligations that make each family similar but separate. The love within a family is supposed to be based on the Love of God, but every family is both alike and different. Parents are responsible for their children, but children are also supposed to honor their parents.  Parents are only given their children for part of their lives, and they are to teach them who God is and what their responsibility to Him really is.

It can be tempting to let our lives rotate around the our children, and don't allow any "bad things" to get in the way. We live in a world that isn't all sweetness and light, and if we look at how God deals with us, we realize that we learn how to deal with tough stuff the hard way. God provides challenges, the world has its own share of tests, and we are supposed to grow up and know what to do  when life throws curve balls. I spent an amazing summer at one point in my life learning that when St Paul tells the Romans that "all things work together for good" doesn't say anything about what those "things" really are, and finally recognized that some of those things weren't necessarily about me, but there were good reasons for the way things finally worked out. In the Gospels, we see Peter try to walk on water, but sank when he took his eyes off of Jesus.  Jesus allowed Peter to get into some tough spots, because he needed to learn to deal with the stuff we're put on a complicated world to handle.