"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.
Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.
Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil."
Proverbs 4:23-27
This advice seems to be quite calm and reasoned, where I would probably interpret it with a gigantic billboard saying "PAY ATTENTION!" I think that is often one of our biggest pitfalls in life. We tend to avoid and ignore things that are ultra important because we don't want to deal with them, or face the responsibility. And, unless we are paying attention, we can often wander off the path. Sometimes that is the point, I suppose. We think that if we go squinty-eyed enough that we are obscuring our own vision that maybe it won't be our fault when we're found on the wrong side of the line... or we actually convince ourselves that if we don't look where we're walking that we won't have to deal with anything that we step in.
And as much as I do exactly this myself, I have to still say, it isn't the answer. I think these verses are a very clear message to us that we need to wake up and pay attention to our lives. We're going to be responsible for where we end up, so we should watch where we're going. ... I don't think that this means that we can't enjoy our lives at all. We're here to learn joy as well. :) But I do think that the kind of joy that comes while we're paying attention is probably a lot better than the kind we stumble into in the dark.
Today, let's pay attention. Let's open our eyes and look at where we're going, and make course adjustments as needed. :) And then let's start finding the good things and enjoying our lives the right way. In the light.
Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.
Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.
Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil."
Proverbs 4:23-27
This advice seems to be quite calm and reasoned, where I would probably interpret it with a gigantic billboard saying "PAY ATTENTION!" I think that is often one of our biggest pitfalls in life. We tend to avoid and ignore things that are ultra important because we don't want to deal with them, or face the responsibility. And, unless we are paying attention, we can often wander off the path. Sometimes that is the point, I suppose. We think that if we go squinty-eyed enough that we are obscuring our own vision that maybe it won't be our fault when we're found on the wrong side of the line... or we actually convince ourselves that if we don't look where we're walking that we won't have to deal with anything that we step in.
And as much as I do exactly this myself, I have to still say, it isn't the answer. I think these verses are a very clear message to us that we need to wake up and pay attention to our lives. We're going to be responsible for where we end up, so we should watch where we're going. ... I don't think that this means that we can't enjoy our lives at all. We're here to learn joy as well. :) But I do think that the kind of joy that comes while we're paying attention is probably a lot better than the kind we stumble into in the dark.
Today, let's pay attention. Let's open our eyes and look at where we're going, and make course adjustments as needed. :) And then let's start finding the good things and enjoying our lives the right way. In the light.
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