Geoff's Miscellany

Toward the beginning of John Wesley's journal, he goes through a series of questions that he asks people who are critical of what he and the early Methodists are doing. They are pretty intense, but most Christians, even now, would approve of them. I wonder why we don't do this kind of thing.

1.  Whether it does not concern all men of all conditions to imitate Him, as much as they can, ‘who went about doing good’?

   Whether all Christians are not concerned in that command, ‘While we have time, let us do good to all men’?

Luk 12:16-21 ESV  And he told them a parable, saying, "The land of a rich man produced plentifully, (17)  and he thought to himself, 'What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?' (18)  And he said, 'I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. (19)  And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry."' (20)  But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' (21)  So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God."

Pro 11:25 A generous person will prosper, and anyone who gives water will receive a flood in return.

Pro 18:17  The first to put forth his case seems right, until someone else steps forward and cross-examines him.

Attempting to discern the dates of the literature in New Testament is in many ways a fools errand.

It has some value, but not a great deal. For instance, if James Crossley or David Alan Black are right about how early the earliest gospel is (they disagree about which it is), then many of the arguments against the reliability of the general outline of Jesus’ life in the gospels are pretty much false. At least if they are of this form, “The gospels are late, therefore the gospels are fictional.”

In this post I hope to compare the book of Proverbs to Stoic thought in a way that challenges you to gain self-mastery.

Proverbs:

Pro 16:32  Whoever controls his temper is better than a warrior, and anyone who has control of his spirit is better than someone who captures a city. Pro 24:5  A wise man is strong, and a knowledgeable man grows in strength. Pro 24:10-12  If you grow weary when times are troubled, your strength is limited.  (11)  Rescue those who are being led away to death, and save those who stumble toward slaughter.  (12)  If you say, "Look here, we didn't know about this," doesn't God, who examines motives, discern it? Doesn't the one who guards your soul know about it? Won't he repay each person according to what he has done? Pro 24:15-19  Don't lie in wait like an outlaw to attack where the righteous live;  (16)  for though a righteous man falls seven times, he will rise again, but the wicked stumble into calamity.  (17)  Don't rejoice when your enemy falls; don't let yourself be glad when he stumbles.  (18)  Otherwise the LORD will observe and disapprove, and he will turn his anger away from him.  (19)  Don't be anxious about those who practice evil, and don't be envious of the wicked.

In one respect man is the nearest thing to me, so far as I must do good to men and endure them. But so far as some men make themselves obstacles to my proper acts, man becomes to me one of the things which are indifferent, no less than the sun or wind or a wild beast. Now it is true that these may impede my action, but they are no impediments to my affects and disposition, which have the power of acting conditionally and changing: for the mind converts and changes every hindrance to its activity into an aid; and so that which is a hindrance is made a furtherance to an act; and that which is an obstacle on the road helps us on this road.  –Meditations Book 5

1. A certain frame of mind is considered strength in both schools of thought versus the immediately visible external situation. That frame of mind, in both contexts, is a certain attitude and series of mental habits toward life: "anyone who has control of his spirit is better than someone who captures a city."
2. The righteous man (who in Proverbs is always the wise man) gets up when he falls (either morally or in terms of success), just as Aurelius notes, "the obstacle on the road helps us on this road."
3. Adversity is seen in both thought schools as an opportunity to show or gain strength.
4. Both schools of thought relate endurance through trials to being ill-treated by the wicked. Many times other people mess with your life. Aurelius and Solomon both say (whether they lived this or not doesn't matter) that treating such people with contempt will do no good, but rather when they oppose you, you should simply move on and improve yourself.
5. Finally, both authors note that doing good to others is part of the motivation for having strength (read: a wise mindset toward adversity) and the purpose for using it.

So, how will you respond to adversity? Will you respond with good-will toward others, a desire to improve, endurance through difficulty, and a non-hater attitude toward those who mess you up? Or will you do the same things that make old people complain about young people in every generation: quit, whine, blame other people, watch t.v., and play on the internet?

Pro 14:4 Where there are no oxen, the barn is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.

There might are less chores with less tools, but with well managed tools comes greater success.

I can think of several applications of this Proverb to contemporary existence:

1. If you do not own a lawn mower, you’ll have less maintenance, but you’ll have to pay more in the long run for people to do your yard.
2. If you do not own a tools, then you won’t have to organize them. There will be no need to put up your tools, have a sweet tool box, or to oil them. But if you have one it will be cheaper to repair your house.
3. Any tools that improve your productivity should be cared for just like the oxen barn. A barn full of oxen, left unattended, will eventually smell like what fills it. Similarly, a computer that is not properly maintained, a car not properly tuned up, or a guitar not properly stored will all let you down more frequently than the alternative. But if you do not have these tools, then you cannot have the blessings that come with them.
4. If less people go to your church, you’ll have less problems. But conversely, potentially less of the work of the gospel will be accomplished.
5. Your body will eventually fall apart, but it will happen much faster without use! Put the work of taking care of it into practice and it will likely work much longer for you.

1. Keep my garage clean and organized.
2. Stop borrowing my friend’s calculator.
3. Keep my books in alphabetical order.

New American Standard Bible  Proverbs 17:6 Grandchildren are the crown of old men, And the glory of sons is their fathers.

Jewish Publication Society  Proverbs 17:6 Grandchildren are the crown of their elders, And the glory of children is their parents.

Grandchildren and Grandparents

One of the things I’ve heard several parents say to their parents is, “You were always more strict with us than with my kids.” I think this proverb is noting that this is the case. There is also a note of glory in living long enough to see your children raise the next generation.

TLDL

The things of the Spirit in Romans 8:1-17 are actually the same sorts of things we find in the four gospels. This is what Paul wants us to be mindful of in our day-to-day life with Christ and his church.

Whole Thought

Romans 8 is, by many accounts, one of the most beautiful passages penned by Paul and by some accounts, perhaps the most beautiful passage in Scripture. What has always intrigued me about Romans 8 is Paul’s notion of the Christian life on a moment by moment basis.

 A sated man loathes honey, But to a famished man any bitter thing is sweet. (Pro 27:7 NAS)

Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, Nor are the eyes of man ever satisfied. (Pro 27:20 NAS)

The obvious meaning of Proverbs 27:7, “A sated man loathes honey, but to a famished man, any bitter thing is sweet,” is that with the exception of a very few people, if somebody has had his fill food, is no longer pleasant. If I eat too much Lasagna, then ice-cream won’t seem pleasant. On the other hand, if I’m very hungry even mustard greens and turnips might seem tasty.

It was finally cool enough to work out in our garage rather than at the gym.

Avery and I lifted weights and I hit the punching bag.

I increased the intensity of my blows just because I thought my hands had hardened up pretty well over the past several weeks. This resulted in two things.

My wife noted that hitting the punching bag looked pretty manly. She’s seen me dead lift and squat nearly 400 pounds in the same day and just gave me a fist bump. But watching me punch an invincible target that never gets hurt, tired, or offended looked manly. I know she’ll support me if I have to fight this guy:

Everything happens for a reason.

The phrase above is trivially true. Every thing that happens certainly has a cause. But it is often seen as a piece of centrally true theological reasoning. You lock your keys in your car, "God did it for a reason." You get gas from over-eating, "It happened for a reason." You make a bunch of bad decisions that hurt others and famously, "I learned something from it, therefore it must have happened for a reason."