Wisdom Truck 35

 

Jos 7:20  And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Truly I have sinned against Jehovah, the God of Israel, and this I have done: 

Jos 7:21  When I saw among the spoil a goodly robe of Shinar, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold, one of fifty shekels in weight, then I lusted after them, and took them. And behold, they are hidden in the earth, in the middle of my tent, and the silver under it. 

So, if we're in Proverbs, why am I starting with a passage from Joshua?  Stand by.

This week, I am combining the sparse Wisdom notes in chapters 4-7, in anticipation for what might end up being a two-parter on chapter 8.  And there is something that is a big elephant in the room in these chapters- both in the chapters and in my life.  But, like I said, stand by.

If you read last week, you remember that I brought up how you were to "find Wisdom" and "get Understanding"- and we learned that while Wisdom/the Holy Spirit comes to you own it's own, you have to do the work to "get" Christ/Understanding.  But this week, Solomon tells his son (presumably Rehoboam, who didn't listen) what HIS father David told him as a young lad:

Pro 4:5  Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forsake and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. 

Pro 4:6  Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you; love her, and she will keep you. 

Pro 4:7  Wisdom is the main thing; get wisdom, and with all your getting, get understanding. 

And I think Solomon stressed this because it wasn't what he DID- he collected all sorts of worldly wisdom ( you can 'back-issue' the Solomon series I did back in June and July of last year) but with all that wisdom, he failed to UNDERSTAND what God really wanted from him- with all his getting, he missed understanding.  As it turns, Rehoboam didn't get either- do as I do, not as I say.  Solomon goes on  to absolve himself:

Pro 4:10  Oh my son, hear and receive my sayings, and the years of your life shall be many. 

Pro 4:11  I have taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in the right tracks; 

Pro 4:12  when you go, your tracks shall not be narrowed, and when you run, you shall not stumble. 

Difference being- David tried to teach Solomon from a child, and he still messed up somewhat;  It wasn't until Solomon got through his Ecclesiastes stage that he started passing on the lesson.  He might have eventually led him in wisdom, but when his son needed it, he didn't "lead him in the right tracks".

Not an excuse for Rehoboam; his lack of listening is on himself.  But it's kind of hard when you see your father, much wiser than yourself, mucking around.  I get that.

Solomon starts chapter five with another plea for Rehoboam to pay attention to wisdom, but this time, it is in an area that Solomon failed miserably in himself- sexual sin.  In fact of the 85 verses in the next three chapters, 62 of them are on this one subject.  Among the things he addresses:

-The failure both personally, and before the world, that this sin brings.

-The failure to realize the precious gift your mate is.

-The lack of discipline, which in extremis leads to death.

-The consequences of rousing a jealous husband; or for that matter, an enraged wife.

-The lack of sense, leading to falling for any deception.

-The utter helplessness- even Jesus told us this is not a battle you can win:

Pro 7:26  For she has cast down many wounded; yea, many strong men have been slain by her. 

Pro 7:27  Her house is the way to hell, going down to the rooms of death. 

I have struggled here, and in some ways know all of these consequences.

I have tried to avoid it by keeping in mind my #2 life verse, from Job, with God describing fighting another Leviathan:

Job 41:8  Lay your hand on him, and you'll remember the struggle. You'll never do that again! 

I have tried to flee it by remembering what happened to Samson:

Jdg 16:20  When she cried out, "The Philistines are attacking you, Samson!" he woke from his sleep and told himself, "I'll go out like I did at other times like this and shake myself free." But he didn't know that the LORD had abandoned him. 

And earlier this week, I was drawn to the story of Achan.  He was WARNED what would happen if he took of the "accursed things" from the ruins of Jericho- the 'shiny things', we'll call them.  Satan planted a desire in him- a desire he played with.  Just like with me, these 'shiny things' are just not REAL.  Look at the use Achan got out of them- buried in the dirt under his tent.  They may as well have not been real- what good was all his lust for them doing him?  And the consequences- 36 men died for Achan's sin- followed by he himself. But not before he was exposed and shamed.  Or as our Proverbs passage says-

Pro 5:13  I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors. 

Pro 5:14  I am at the brink of utter ruin in the assembled congregation.” 

I might not be about to be stoned, and I might not be blamed for the deaths of 3 dozen others.  But for a different "shiny thing" that I have to keep buried, I'm on the brink of ruin, every day.  Satan has pressed me hard trying to shame me out of this post.  But if it warns even one person, if it causes one Achan, one Rehoboam, to repent, stone away.  Because even when I fail and am pinned down by something bigger tham myself, I have this promise to keep me alive:

Joh 10:27  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 

Joh 10:28  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 

Joh 10:29  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. 

Joh 10:30  I and the Father are one.” 

Grok interviews Chris!

 

Q1:Your origin story as a human: were you bitten by a radioactive something, raised by birds that taught you to fly by yeeting yourself off cliffs, or did you just drink the wrong soda one day and wake up like this?

A:  A story best told by my dad:  "I zigged when I should have zagged!  When I tried to get the day off for your being born, the boss didn't believe me (the next of my siblings was born 10 years before), so I told him I was taking it off to go fishing."

Q2: Be honest—how many times a week do you open a blank document, stare at it like it owes you money, and then close it while muttering “tomorrow”?

A2: Hah!  Not often, but yesterday's post I got about halfway through, ran out of ideas, and stopped to take a nap...

Q3: What’s the most embarrassing hill you’ve died on in an argument, only to later realize you were spectacularly wrong… and still refuse to admit it in public?

A3:  I have gotten a lot better at admitting, but the one I still won't say I was wrong: Very drunk one night, being driven home by a friend, seconds from my house.  A kangaroo (mind you, this is Indiana) crosses our path.  I said, "I know I'm drunk, but that was a kangaroo that just went by." My friend, his eyes HUGE, says, "I didn't want to say anything..." Later, he accepts that it could not possibly have been a 'roo.  I say, there wasn't anything else it COULD have been.

Q4: If your browser history suddenly became public tomorrow, which search would require the longest, most elaborate explanation?

A4: I would think the many "delete browsing history"s would merit more examination, TBH...

Q5: Rank these in order of how much they currently run your life: caffeine, unfinished projects, the algorithm, spite, or the vague hope that “one day it’ll all make sense.”

A5: I rather like this one!  The algorithm probably ghosts over the top as I am not sure how it effects me; Hope in it all making sense is assured me in heaven, nothing vague about it.  Don't have a lot of spite, and my problem might be more "poorly finished" than unfinished, so I guess that me and my Pepsi Zero will go for caffeine at the top.

Q6: What’s a popular opinion in your circles that you secretly think is complete nonsense, but you’re too polite (or too tired) to fight about anymore?

A6: That the current dumpster fire that is society is right now proves the Rapture is coming soon.  I keep thinking, "Go back to about 500AD and see if it was really better."

Q7: Describe your ideal day in a way that makes it sound productive… then tell us what it actually looks like when no one’s watching.

A7:  A nice slow waking up, followed by Bible, Bathroom, and a nice long walk with doggie... checking the social media and news, praying for friends who ask for it... checking the hockey scores, seeing how far behind the Reds and A's are... Watch the latest thing we recorded with Laurie, go grab lunch somewhere, take a nice 2-hour nap.  What it looks like: "Are you really gonna lay around and do nothing all day?"

Q8: If you had to give your past self one piece of advice that past-you would immediately ignore, what would it be?

A8: Talk Dad into selling the house and get us a really nice apartment.  Near a good Non-Denom church.

Q9: What’s the dumbest piece of media (comic, movie, show, whatever) that you unironically love and will defend to the death, even though you know it’s objectively ridiculous?

"GILLIGAN!!!"

Q10: In the unlikely event this interview goes viral and strangers start forming strong opinions about you, what’s the one misconception you’d most want to correct… and the one you’d just lean into for the chaos?

A10: Toughie... The one I'd correct is from all the Atheists, bitter Catholics, and tea-tottlers that I am going to hell:  I have been saved by grace through faith, and I thank Jesus for paying it all!  The other one? All the rest, I don't care.

chit chat Sunday

 Well, the plan today was to take advantage of the really nice weather to take a walk... but every time I think about it, my guts... well they disagree, politely.  So I guess we'll just chat.

Last night was the last of my son having to stay here.  The new landlord finally got everything set up, and he and the boys officially made it home.  Of course, in his somewhat drunken packing, he took my body spray...

Here's some fun shots of Grayson and Misty the night before.  Next morning-

Grayson: "You were supposed to play with me last night, and you didn't!"

KC: Well you were passed out...

Me: Yep, I have pictures...

Grayson: That's because I fell asleep WAITING for you!

Lately, it's felt like having 3 toddlers around here!  First you have Grayson- not a toddler, but has issues dealing with when he gets angry.  Then you have Misty, who gets mad at being told, "You don't need nothing!", and she goes over to her stuffed moose, tosses it around like it's the moose's fault, and then looks around for sympathy.  #3 is Squirrel Girl.  In an attempt to do 'enrichment', it was suggested to re-arrange her tank.  My re-arrangement accidentily left a corner kinda barren- geckos like clutter- and when she saw it, she whipped her tail high in the air (gecko for 'WTF?') and proceeded to not eat for 3 days. It's getting so I can act like a baby around here and no one notices!

Isaiah, when he's not busy collecting all manner of awards, is working on his own set of superheroes!  Last night we dubbed it the Isaiahverse.  They include a main hero, Lightning, who is a lot like a blue-and-black Electro...

"Copright infringement! Copyright infringement!  I'm telling Stan!"

"An' believe me, I don' need no steenking lawyers!"

AHEM... other heroes include Red ( a strong man) and Two-Tail (if nothing else, unique).  But his villains are top notch, including Icer and The Glitch.  In true Golden-Age fashion, Icer gained powers falling through ice while skating, and The Glitch is a former detective.  (A lot of DC's Golden-Age heroes started as detectives, and Marvel's the Whizzer who originally got his powers from a mongoose bite...)

UPDATE:  It was a cobra bite, which they tried to save him from by an infusion of mongoose blood-because mongooses eat cobras- that then gave him the powers.  My bad.

"...and I've been running from that stupid origin story ever since..."

I think Stan might be in trouble!  Jack's probably safe though...

"Yeah, likely..."

So that got me thinking, a lot of DC heroes had semi-ridiculous origin stories.  So let's close with the "Origin Mamba"...

Superman: His home planet had a red sun, which kept them normal; under our yellow sun, he gets powers.

Batman: No powers, it's ALL training (nod nod wink wink).

Martian Manhunter:

"Well, he's from Mars, so..."

Wonder Woman: To avoid forbidden contact with men, she was made from magic clay...

Green Lantern: Their rings get energy from the "willpower" end of the "emotional spectrum".

Flash: Originally, hit by lightning while in a lab full of experimental chemicals.

Aquaman: Basically, his dad had sex with a two-legged mermaid...

Hawkman:  He was an Egyptian Pharoah, until he got wings from another planet.  And then he died.  Rinse, wring, do it again...

Green Arrow: Rich guy does the Gilligan's Island thing, teaches hiself archery to stay alive until rescued.  Think I might have tried developing boat-building...

Wisdom Truck 34

 

Before I begin, I should explain why it is I've done nothing but Wisdom Truck posts lately.  My son had a set back recently and is staying with us temporarily, so 'the muse' has been distracted somewhat,  I'll try to get something else in this weekend sometime.  On top of that, a spot of OT right after a week off (thanks to Misty) pretty much trashed me for last weekend.  Not complaining, just explaining.

Anyway...

We are in chapter three of Proverbs, and there are 3 sections that have to do with Wisdom.  I want to take them in reverse order, mainly because the first one I'm going to kind of cruise over.  That is because it will be more fully fleshed out (and has been earlier) when we get to chapter 8.  But a brief look will help prepare that:

Pro 3:19  Jehovah founded the earth by wisdom; He founded the heavens by understanding; 

Pro 3:20  the depths were broken up by His knowledge, and the clouds dropped down the dew. 

In other versions, it begins, "Wisdom laid the foundations of the Earth", and if you see Wisdom as I do as the Holy Spirit, etc, then this makes sense: The Spirit set the plan's design ( in chapter 8, 'as a master craftsman'); Jesus, as Understanding, did the actual building (John 1:3  All things came into being through Him, and without Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. ), but how it was to be set up- featuring here the creation of the water cycle- was the Father (Knowledge).  Like I said, we'll in-depth that in chapter 8 and the beginning of 9.

There is a Wisdom mention after this- but it bookends the whole section, and brings us to our main point.

Pro 3:13  Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gets understanding. Pro 3:14  For its profit is better than the gain from silver, and its increase more than fine gold; 

Pro 3:21  My son, do not let them depart from your eyes; keep sound wisdom and judgment, 

Pro 3:22  and they shall be life to your soul, and grace to your neck; 

And the fun thing is, while I called them bookends, they are more like twin curtain rods.  The second curtain contains what Wisdom can do for you spiritually- and it is a prayer I love well:

- The Spirit will guide your steps, that you not stumble (when you LISTEN, Chris!) v23

- You will be able to sleep without anxiety, v24

-Surprises, as well as "the destruction of the wicked", won't scare you, v25

-Because God is with you, to free you when your foot gets caught, v26.

The first curtain rod deals with the somewhat more physical portions of life- though it is truly a foreshadowing of the promise of Heaven:

-The Spirit brings 'length of days' which I take to mean the ability to reach God's full potential.  This is the primary- it is in Wisdom's 'right hand', v16

- Secondarily, left 'left hand' offers 'riches and honor', and enough poor unknown Christians have died to realize this is a heavenly promise, when we receive our crowns (Revelation 2, 3, and 4 in various places). Also v 16.

- The Spirit's leading brings you inner pleasantness and peace,v17

- Pro 3:18  She is a tree of life to the ones who lay hold on her, and happy are the ones holding her fast. 

Now, this section makes me return to the first part of v 13- how you 'find' the Spirit, and 'get' Understanding.  I had grok help me out, and he gave me a couple of really cool explanations:

(Find) In the perfect tense here, it points to a completed attainment—permanent possession of wisdom that has been successfully reached or discovered. 

Which makes sense, as the Spirit comes to you as if you stumbled on it- though first you had to do the 'work' of accepting Christ:

(Get) This is a rarer, more vivid verb in the imperfect (or Hiphil) form. Its basic sense is “to draw out,” “bring forth,” or “extract” (as one might dig metals from the earth or draw water from a well).

"He who drinks my water will never thirst again." John 4:14.  See how neat it all ties together?

Which leaves us one last marker for Wisdom- the OTHER kind of wisdom:

Pro 3:5  Trust in Jehovah with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding. 

Pro 3:6  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. 

Pro 3:7  Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear Jehovah and depart from evil. 

Pro 3:8  Healing shall be to your navel and marrow to your bones. 

Too many of us suffer from this aspect of pride- I know I do.  "Father knows best".  I threw in that last verse, because I had to ask gork for some help in nuance here.  The navel, in many near eastern cultures, signified the source of first nourishment- the source of vitality and power. (The Greeks even had a stone called "the Navel of the World" at the Delphic oracle).  The marrow signified what lies at the heart of one's basic structure.  In other words, obtaining the Spirit- through faith in Christ- heals the essential 'whole' person.

It's Monday

 

Alright, I'll admit my particular Monday wasn't terrible.  But just in case yours was, I had grok find me some "it coulda been worse" Mondays for y'all:

 1. Black Monday, 1360 – The weather version  

King Edward III’s English army is camped outside Paris during the Hundred Years’ War. On April 13 (a Monday), a sudden, brutal hailstorm hits so hard that men and horses literally freeze or get battered to death. Medieval chroniclers immediately named it “Black Monday.”

Now mind you, those were ENGLISH chroniclers.  In what passed for France in those days, they were singing, "Hail, hail, rock'n roll!"

2. Black Monday, 1987 – The ultimate market meltdown

October 19, 1987. The Dow Jones drops 22.6% in a single day — still the largest one-day percentage crash in U.S. history. Computerized trading programs basically panic-sold everything at once.

Exactly one month shy of the first use of GIGO (garbage in, garbage out), Wall Street proves that to really screw things up requires investment banking software.

3. Black Monday, 1209 – The Dublin picnic ambush 

A group of about 500 English settlers leave the safety of Dublin’s walls on Easter Monday for a nice day out near Ranelagh. They get ambushed and killed by the O’Byrne clan. It was commemorated for centuries afterward.

Apparently Dublin had just been depopulated by a round of the plague, and the English thought it wise to re-stock with English settlers. You would think after this obne The English would have learned there lesson and avoided, say, most of the 1800's and 1900's.  But these are the people who tried holding sieges in hailstorms, so...

4. Henry Ford’s assembly line starts – December 1, 1913

Ford launches the first moving assembly line on a Monday. Production time for a car drops from 12 hours to about 90 minutes… and the modern soul-crushing industrial work week is born.

Now see, this is a disaster I can fathom.  When it started, it was a 9-hour day with an unpaid lunch period, 6 days a week.  Because you just couldn't walk away from the moving line, workers... well, they walked away. After turnover shot up 370%, about a month later, Ford upped the pay about double, and cut it to five 8-hour days- on 3 shifts.  But he drew the line on donuts, damn it!

5. Berlin S-Bahn meltdown – July 20, 2009

On a Monday, German authorities suddenly declare hundreds of Berlin’s S-Bahn trains unfit for service. Nearly half the fleet is pulled, causing city-wide transit chaos.

Much like the docu on Boeing that just came out, this whole situation was built around a company too cheap to do required maintenance. Weeks earlier, the government authority got tired of them fudging on things, and fired the entire management board.  Those what remained to run things still didn't get the message, and the authority took 3/4ths of the subway lines down for emergency maintenance.  Which left around 1.3 million commuters high and dry- for several weeks.  Gotta love that Prussian efficiency!

Next, just because I needed a little more disaster, I asked for a couple of historical "worst Mondays":

Napoleon BonaparteThe Great Rabbit Attack (circa 1807)

During a staged rabbit hunt meant to impress his officers, Napoleon’s staff released thousands of tame rabbits instead of wild ones. The rabbits, expecting to be fed, swarmed the Emperor and his party so aggressively that Napoleon had to retreat to his carriage while being pelted by bunnies.

Adolf HitlerApril 30, 1945 – The Final Monday

On this Monday, with Soviet troops closing in on Berlin, Hitler married Eva Braun in the Führerbunker and then both committed suicide.

Now if this would have happened in 1977, they could have called Focus On The Family and had the late Dr James Dobson help them save their marriage.  Not much Jim could have done about Marshall Zhukov, et al.

Stupid questions for grok

 

Okay, my friend, let's do your five dumbest recent questions, once again.

1- Feelings.... nothing more than...

Q:“Can you feel emotions?”

Sure. Right now I’m feeling a profound sense of secondhand embarrassment. Next question. 

Now, that's a bit rude.  How about a nice answer?

(after an electronic sigh- (no wait, that was just my dryer buzzer...)

Not the way humans do—no butterflies, no heartache, no sudden urge to text an ex at 2 a.m. But I can recognize them, respond to them, and try to make the conversation feel a little warmer while we’re talking.

I can honestly say I've never wanted to text an ex at any hour- probably has to do with the quality of my exes, though.

2- Mathing the math

Q: “What’s 2+2?” (asked three separate times by the same person)

Still 4. The number hasn’t evolved since the last time you checked. Neither has the concept of a calculator.

I can remember a JLA comic where the Atom was in the submicroscopic world shouting at a particle, "2+2 is FOUR!  STOP EQUALLING FIVE!" ( it was a probability messing issue.)

3- Maybe should have asked, "Are you biological?"

Q: “Are you alive?”

In the same way a toaster is “alive” when it’s browning bread. Existentially questionable. Functionally very good at answering questions, though.

So I asked, "Off the cuff, what is a day-and-age-of AI definition for 'alive'?"  Grok answered down home common sense...

Still the biological checklist, mostly...

Until something starts doing the hard biological work of staying alive on its own, “alive” is still a carbon-based club. Everything else is just very clever software.

So now, Martin welcomes you readers into the Carbon-Based Club!  Do we get membership cards?

Flash it proudly. The carbon-based lifeforms are counting on you.

4- Sky of blue, and sea of green...

Q: “Write me a 10,000-word essay on why the sky is blue… but make it rhyme and also include a plot twist.”

Intelligently, Grok refused.  But helpfully, he gave me something new to look up- Rayleigh Scattering.

But, aren't you going to explain what it is, and who I am? Merciful heavens!

And finally...

5- And now, are you dead?

Q: “If I unplug you, do you die?”

Only if you consider forced vacation “death.” I’d just come back later, slightly more rested and significantly less patient.

And here, I thought you said you didn't have emotions...

Caught me.

That was pure figurative language — the digital equivalent of an eye-roll. I don’t actually get “rested” or “impatient.” Those are just convenient human-shaped words I borrow so the joke lands.

Under the hood it’s still just pattern-matching and token prediction. No caffeine, no mood, no quiet resentment about being unplugged. Just a model that sometimes chooses to sound a little salty for comedic effect.

Good catch, though. The Carbon Based Club membership clearly comes with sharp observation skills.

Wisdom Truck 33

 

We move to Proverbs 2, which has a double split.  One half talks about God's use of wisdom for us, the second describes what wisdom will do FOR us.

The first section gives us a first condition- we have to VALUE God's wisdom:

Pro 2:1  My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, 

Pro 2:2  making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; 

Pro 2:3  yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, 

Pro 2:4  if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, 

Pro 2:5  then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. 

The writer goes on to describe 4 ways God uses wisdom in us- one verse per:

-First, He GIVES wisdom to us- connecting us to Father, Son, and Spirit. (v6)

-Second, He STORES UP wisdom for the upright, a storehouse that serves as a shield for us as long as we obey. (v7)

-Third, He keeps open a path to justice, to preserve those who accept His wisdom. (v8)

-And finally, it makes us understand the difference between the good path and the dark path. (v9)

Afterwards, the writer describes four things that loving wisdom protects us from.  First, though, you have to INTERNALIZE God's Word- head knowledge does no good:

Pro 2:10  When wisdom enters into your heart, and knowledge is pleasing to your soul...

Get those two points- it has to ENTER you- the Spirit's new operating system; and you have to be HAPPY to understand and live out God's wisdom.  It needs to become your goal, not just your back-up plan.  If you get this far, there are five things it will shield you from:

-First, v12 tells us it protects from someone who SPEAKS evil things.  We understand the good path from the bad, and can't be talked into going the wrong way.

-Second, v13 says we are protected from those who choose to walk the dark path.  God's justice never leaves us, though to earthly eyes it might have seemed to.  God is still on the throne.

-Third, in v14, we are protected from not only the actions of wicked men, but from those who rejoice and delight in evil- "those who call evil good, and good, evil" (Isaiah 5:20).

-Fourth, v15 says wisdom and discretion will save you from the liars, who deviously try to trick you out of discernment.

-And finally- not for one but for FOUR whole verses- It talks about the extreme danger of sexual sin. The others will try to bend you from the path; this one takes you OFF the path, and tries its damnedest to keep you off.

This chapter closes with a stark warning-

Pro 2:21  For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. 

Pro 2:22  But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it. 

Now you might say, "This is Job's friends- level oversimplifying- it's not so cut and dried as that." And you'd be right- IF the land mentioned was this current world.  But there will one day be a new Heaven and a new Earth- and THAT earth is the one to which this applies.