Proverbs 24:32: We Can Only Possess What We Experience

We can only possess what we experience.

Truth, to be understood, must be lived.

There is a difference, a qualitative difference,

Between what I know as a fact and what I know as truth.

It stands as a great divide to separate my thinking

From when I'm thinking foolishly and when I've understood.

- Charlie Peacock, Experience, The Secret of Time

My wife worked for the Department of Agriculture in a rice-growing country. As a young, unassigned researcher, she was the chosen recipient of a bag of potatoes and a guide to growing potatoes. She read the book intently, from cover to cover, because she had no real experience with potatoes or their requirements. Potatoes weren't like rice. There were few potatoes available in the markets. Her family's generations of rice-growing experience was of little use.

So, book in hand, she experimented, planted, harvested and presented her results. Some things worked. Other things didn't. The book had word and diagrams that pointed at truth. But it did not become truth for her until those tubers and that soil and that fertilizer passed through her hands.

Life works this way. We have guidelines-heuristics-rules of thumb-proverbs-that others have gathered for us, that we use to shortcut decision making and bypass mistakes all the time. These guidelines are necessary, but it is experience that leads us through that to the other side. "As long as 'received teaching' doesn't become experiential knowledge, we're going to continue creating a high quantity of disillusioned ex-believers. Or on the flip-side, we'll manufacture very rigid believers who simply hold on to doctrines in very dry, dead ways with nothing going on inside."[1]

The book of Proverbs is wonderful. It shortcuts straight to the bottom line in life. It distills pages of theology and hours of reasoning into a few words designed to instruct. Those words point the way, but you have to watch a few fools in their folly, or be one yourself before the gut level impact of the truth comes home.  The pattern of the wise can be described, but its rewards require first-hand experience.

Truth cannot grab us until it has been filtered through our lives-until our lives have depended upon it. Consider: It is one thing to know that poverty exists, know the effects of poverty and the means of its alleviation. It is another to be poor.

Experience requires time. I often wished I was more mature than I am, where the truth I knew flowed seamlessly into the choices that I made. I wish that there was never a time when I was not mature (mainly so I wouldn't need to forget my penchant for the epic faux pas). Thankfully, though, time and the grace of God have smoothed some rough edges and weathered away stubborn flaws.

Proverbs says, "Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained in the way of righteousness." (Proverbs 16:31) Living in an age that idolizes youthfulness, we sometimes forget that the core problems for people have not changed: anger, love, selfishness, bitterness, grief, desire, self-deception, envy and malice. Those dynamics have not altered, and wisdom acquired in those storms still holds true.

I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: - Proverbs 24:32

 What I experience now is really all I will carry with me into eternity.  I pray that my hard-earned graying hair speaks to truth that has settled deeply in my soul. Amen.

[1] Richard Rohr, The Divine Dance (What Hods Us Back from Genuine Spiritual Experience?)

Psalm 40: Waiting Is Active

I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. - Psalm 40:1

Around my house, I would not be characterized as a person who likes to wait. I'm usually the first person in the car. I'm usually the one who has timed things down to the minute. I am the one who has comments about those people in restaurants who only make up their mind what to order when they've reached the counter.

For me, waiting is not a passive thing--waiting is active. I must consciously restrain myself from fidgeting, pacing, or grumbling. When waiting, I am full of nervous energy. I feel uncomfortable in the nothing periods before the something happens. In a word, I am impatient.

While I have become more capable at restraining the outward signs of my impatience, inwardly I am still focused on the then rather than the now--a bubbling cauldron of anticipation. Rather than being patient, I have adopted the appearance of stoicism.

Recently, I have started to watch how I respond to waiting, not outwardly, but inwardly. Sometimes, I just bubble - replaying my plans or worries or frustrations. Sometimes, I try blankness, a mental state with deliberate lack of focus. Sometimes, I try to distract myself by engaging my attention through some small chore, activity, or FaceBook or a game--keeping busy.

But these activities waste much of the value of waiting. Many times God can't seem to get a word in edgewise because I am so busy. So he introduces a wait into my life, so I can hear him. Then I promptly ruin a perfectly good waiting period by finding ways to fill it.

Look at the things David was able to do during his waiting period:

1. Learn a new song from God (Ps. 40:3). 
2. Avoid spiritual shortcuts (Ps. 40:4). 
3. Take a break from doing stuff for God and, instead really, hear from God (Ps. 40:6). 
4. center himself on God's agenda rather than his own (Ps. 40:7-8).
5. Encourage others (Ps. 40:9-10). 
6. Talk honestly with God about his problems, including the ones that were self-inflicted. (Ps. 40:12ff).

When I notice that I am struggling with waiting (I don't always notice it when its happening), I try to pull back and use the opportunity God is giving me.

Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city. - Proverbs 16:32

Ecclesiastes 5:2: The Gap Between Me and My Words

Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. - Ecclesiastes 5:2a

God grant me space between me and the things I say so that I may choose the best. Sometimes this gap is time, between what I hear and my reaction and what I say. That gap helps with angry, hasty words.

Many times the words that come out are malformed, muddy and unhelpful. My first self-the self that reacts-is authentic, but it reflects who I am rather than who I am becoming in Christ. My second self-the self that considers-uses that God-gifted gap to speak words of life. Our culture values the authentic, because that same gap that can be used for grace can also be used for hypocrisy and image management.

Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. - Proverbs 16:24

The first self has been rooted in my life since the beginning and usually has first access to my mouth. The second self-the one being transformed by God-is the latecomer but fueled by the Spirit of God.

Today, my pastor said that we also grant space to others by listening well. My first self wants to fill in that gap with my story. My second self wants to hear their story well.

With my friends and colleagues from the Philippines, Taiwan and mainland China, when I ask a question there is often a pause-a silence. One reason for this is their respect for me, waiting to see if I will continue. Another reason is when the dialog is in English, it is often their second or third language and it takes time to parse the flow of words. I have experienced this delay-to-parse myself on Philippine Airlines flights, trying to understand the in-flight announcements in Filipino. It just takes time.

For me, that 2-3 second silence is uncomfortable. Sometimes I interpret that lack of response as either license to continue or failure to communicate. So, I start talking again and my friend's opinion is never spoken nor heard. A mistake that leaves me impoverished.

God grant the gap to let the second self respond in grace. God grant the gap to let another speak well-heard.