Proverbs 17:14 The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water: therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.
Oh Friends, what everlasting wisdom is conveyed in those words! The Good Book is truly a great guide for living on this crazy, zig zag planet Earth. Yet we still doubt its veracity and usefulness in our lives, even disputing its towering adventures, featuring larger than life characters, sharing rich, emotional testimony in beautiful language. But people this is one truth we can’t deny: ‘The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water.’ Sol’s comparison is apt, but Friends, strife is so contrary and unpredictable, like its creator, Lucifer, it can confront and immerse us in its negative throes in different ways. It can start out like a leaking faucet, dripping only one drop at fairly long intervals. We promise ourselves to fix it, but because it’s only one drop every now and then, we keep putting it off, relegating its importance to a low priority. Then, with the passage of time, the drops become more frequent, like a woman in labour, but we still ignore it, because it’s not so bad, the pains are still too far apart to worry. However, without warning, as so often happens, something unexpectedly triggers something else, the water bursts unexpectedly, the dam cascades in powerful torrents down the narrow river bed, flooding the land, the volcano explodes and everything turns topsy turvy. That’s the kind of disunity that stays in the background, sort of undercover. There are some warning signs, but not of enough significance to pay serious attention to, so it just stays there, seethes and simmers, until it boils over, catching us by surprise, releasing all the repressed anger, resentment and distrust. On the other hand, strife can come almost immediately; like when you turn on the tap and it just comes gushing out with no restraints. That’s when the disharmony is acute from the very beginning. It needs no time to get into full stride and disrupts our lives right away. And if the two extremes aren’t bad enough, in between, there are several possibilities. That’s why Sol wisely advised us; ‘therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.’ Drop or clear up any contentious attitudes, disagreements or misunderstandings as soon as possible, cause holding on to them only makes it worse. If we sow those negative seeds in our soul, they’ll only bear negative fruits; heated quarrels that lead to violence that escalates into something bigger, that can even trigger worldwide warfare. That’s how most wars are generated; from little seeds. And Friends, the sad part is that much of the strife that exists in our world, from the inter-personal to the international level is triggered by small, unimportant, selfish, oftimes imagined wrongs, that we’re too stubborn and pig headed to talk about or attempt to solve, so we foolishly continue to suffer the negative effects. To end today’s chat, let’s go back to that fountain of everlasting wisdom; the Good Book, wherein the Word is documented, and extract another valuable lesson for living from its overflowing pages. ‘It is an honour for a man to cease from strife; but every fool will be meddling.’ (Prov.20:3) Yes Friends, it is an honourable act for us to stop strife in our lives. Resist, desist, shy away, run away; use whatever means you can, but don’t let it take hold of us, cause it’s just another destructive tool of the enemy, possibly his most productive weapon, but one we must resist at all cost. And though there will always be some fools who seek to stir it up, please remember that we’ve sincerely promised ourselves that 2009 will be one of new beginnings, rejuvenation and regeneration. I know it seems like more strife is daily coming to the world stage, but as individuals, we can’t do much about that. What we can do however is start small, with our own lives, on a personal level with friends, families, co-workers and people we just happen to meet in our everyday walk of life. Friendly smiles, a pleasant ‘hello,’ a helping hand, all go a long way to alleviating tension and consequently preventing strife. And when there are disagreements or misunderstandings, as there will be, let’s work it out a.s.a.p, if not sooner, and not let it stay and fester in our spirits. From personal experience, I’ve found that any time I harbour anger or resentment, it makes me physically sick, and the sooner I release it, the better of I am. Hn,hn! I can imagine the scowls on the faces of my family, as I’ve disturbed them at some ungodly hours to get stuff off my chest. Yes Friends, the fruit of the Spirit is peace, LOVE, joy, contentment etc. If we sincerely seek those things, then the negative effects of strife won’t affect us. This line from an old Nat Cole song, ‘Nature Boy’ admirably describes my sentiments. ‘The greatest thing you’ll ever learn, Is just to LOVE, and be LOVED in return.’ Much LOVE!…be wise…cease from strife…
Oh Friends, what everlasting wisdom is conveyed in those words! The Good Book is truly a great guide for living on this crazy, zig zag planet Earth. Yet we still doubt its veracity and usefulness in our lives, even disputing its towering adventures, featuring larger than life characters, sharing rich, emotional testimony in beautiful language. But people this is one truth we can’t deny: ‘The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water.’ Sol’s comparison is apt, but Friends, strife is so contrary and unpredictable, like its creator, Lucifer, it can confront and immerse us in its negative throes in different ways. It can start out like a leaking faucet, dripping only one drop at fairly long intervals. We promise ourselves to fix it, but because it’s only one drop every now and then, we keep putting it off, relegating its importance to a low priority. Then, with the passage of time, the drops become more frequent, like a woman in labour, but we still ignore it, because it’s not so bad, the pains are still too far apart to worry. However, without warning, as so often happens, something unexpectedly triggers something else, the water bursts unexpectedly, the dam cascades in powerful torrents down the narrow river bed, flooding the land, the volcano explodes and everything turns topsy turvy. That’s the kind of disunity that stays in the background, sort of undercover. There are some warning signs, but not of enough significance to pay serious attention to, so it just stays there, seethes and simmers, until it boils over, catching us by surprise, releasing all the repressed anger, resentment and distrust. On the other hand, strife can come almost immediately; like when you turn on the tap and it just comes gushing out with no restraints. That’s when the disharmony is acute from the very beginning. It needs no time to get into full stride and disrupts our lives right away. And if the two extremes aren’t bad enough, in between, there are several possibilities. That’s why Sol wisely advised us; ‘therefore leave off contention, before it be meddled with.’ Drop or clear up any contentious attitudes, disagreements or misunderstandings as soon as possible, cause holding on to them only makes it worse. If we sow those negative seeds in our soul, they’ll only bear negative fruits; heated quarrels that lead to violence that escalates into something bigger, that can even trigger worldwide warfare. That’s how most wars are generated; from little seeds. And Friends, the sad part is that much of the strife that exists in our world, from the inter-personal to the international level is triggered by small, unimportant, selfish, oftimes imagined wrongs, that we’re too stubborn and pig headed to talk about or attempt to solve, so we foolishly continue to suffer the negative effects. To end today’s chat, let’s go back to that fountain of everlasting wisdom; the Good Book, wherein the Word is documented, and extract another valuable lesson for living from its overflowing pages. ‘It is an honour for a man to cease from strife; but every fool will be meddling.’ (Prov.20:3) Yes Friends, it is an honourable act for us to stop strife in our lives. Resist, desist, shy away, run away; use whatever means you can, but don’t let it take hold of us, cause it’s just another destructive tool of the enemy, possibly his most productive weapon, but one we must resist at all cost. And though there will always be some fools who seek to stir it up, please remember that we’ve sincerely promised ourselves that 2009 will be one of new beginnings, rejuvenation and regeneration. I know it seems like more strife is daily coming to the world stage, but as individuals, we can’t do much about that. What we can do however is start small, with our own lives, on a personal level with friends, families, co-workers and people we just happen to meet in our everyday walk of life. Friendly smiles, a pleasant ‘hello,’ a helping hand, all go a long way to alleviating tension and consequently preventing strife. And when there are disagreements or misunderstandings, as there will be, let’s work it out a.s.a.p, if not sooner, and not let it stay and fester in our spirits. From personal experience, I’ve found that any time I harbour anger or resentment, it makes me physically sick, and the sooner I release it, the better of I am. Hn,hn! I can imagine the scowls on the faces of my family, as I’ve disturbed them at some ungodly hours to get stuff off my chest. Yes Friends, the fruit of the Spirit is peace, LOVE, joy, contentment etc. If we sincerely seek those things, then the negative effects of strife won’t affect us. This line from an old Nat Cole song, ‘Nature Boy’ admirably describes my sentiments. ‘The greatest thing you’ll ever learn, Is just to LOVE, and be LOVED in return.’ Much LOVE!…be wise…cease from strife…
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