Ecclesiasticus 11:7
7 Do not find fault before making thorough inquiry; first reflect, then give a reprimand.
9 Do not wrangle about something that does not concern you, do not interfere in the quarrels of sinners.
10 My child, do not take on a great amount of business; if you multiply your interests, you are bound to suffer for it; hurry as fast as you can, yet you will never arrive, nor will you escape by running away.
Tomorrow morning when you wake up from a night of sleep you will be blissfully unawares that your least favorite blogger to read has in fact done what we all hoped he wouldn't do and that is continue his quest to wrestle with this book tucked gently away inside the Catholic Bible.
It has been such a long time that we were all hoping that he would have given up the idiocy, that a world so concerned with technology might have the stomach for a blog about wisdom. He didn't.
We bet that there was a chance he would recognize that a world with too many blogs wouldn't need another phony expert telling phony supplicants something that has already been said and learned by far better, wiser, and smarter people over the last 2000 years. He didn't.
However, he did decide that we need more wisdom and that he should redouble his efforts to put out there both the wisdom and encouragement for all to seek such wisdom. Those people who've taught and learned better than us throughout history are more in need of a bath than we are and less of a need of wisdom although I will admit that is very historo-centric.
And so now we do turn once again to the cauterizing of a wound left by the sword of lethargy and ineptitude. We are struck by the tools and gadgets that we made to help us and have hurt us. We live thoroughly unwise lives. And another guy named Jesus born a while before everybody's favorite Jesus has a book full of wise sayings to help us acclimate to a wiser existence.
First, hear the suggestion in verse 10 of chapter 11. Do not take on a great amount of business. If you multiply your interests you are bound to suffer for it...
Granted I need to hear this admonition. If you don't know me here's a little list of hobbies to give youa little picture of what I'm like: I like comics, movies, t.v., books, and music. I like classic cars and coins and shoes. I wear pens in my hat, I wear funny socks and interesting underwear. I like to blog and I go to school. I have three jobs to include going to school. I like to infuse liquors with interesting flavors and I do so way more often than I drink. I like to dance, sing karaoke, run on my treadmill, play basketball, BBQ and we aren't even half way through I imagine. All of that stuff makes me sound schizophrenic but it really just makes me...well...schizophrenic.
This passage is about putting all of your eggs in just two or three baskets. I know there is this quote by Robert Heinlein, "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."
All my life I've agreed with this statement and wanted to be a jack of all trades. But think about the course of study for this list of capabilities. It's too scattered and amorphous. Let's see if we can't get Mr. Heinlein, the creepy orgy-ist, to agree with the writer of Ecclesiasticus. How about we specialize for seasons? How about each of us pick one of the things on this list of capabilities of human beings and just try to add that to our repertoire? And if you've got enough on your plate how about knocking a couple things off? I know, I know, what if you really need to conn a ship (steer a boat)? Tough.
Heinlein and the author of Ecclesiasticus both want us to do things in this world. Neither want us to have the specialization of ants. However, between being a worker bee and excelling at nothing because you're kind of crappy at a ton of stuff are two opposite points on a pendulum with an entire civilization in between.
Try this. Take an inventory of things that you do in life. List your talents, abilities, hobbies, goals, dreams. Now make a list of the things that aren't on that list you'd like to be. (Don't go crazy, no one would expect Beethoven to wire his house's electricity or Einstein to...comb his hair?) Now cross some off of the first list. This isn't optional. Pick the top three. Family should be one, and job, and three should be...what? Don't tell me. Tell yourself. Next, put just one from the second list on the first. Pick a time period like three months or three years and make it happen.
Think of the possibilities for this exercise across the spectrum of our species. What do we learn if we all add a skill, talent, hobby? Some people will choose something dumb. Some would choose something evil, but if the rest use this as an experiment in gaining wisdom then the world will push back from a thanksgiving binge undo it's top button and let go a sigh of such complete satisfaction the likes of which aren't known.. Anyone care to take the challenge? Comment what you're giving up for a season and what you're adding.
P.S. This would have been a good post to make in conjunction with the beginning of lent. #Fiddlesticks #41days2late #stupidnontwitterhashtags
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