Proverbs 27:1 Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
Oh Friends, it’s a cold, frosty morning in my neighbourhood, with frozen patches of snow underfoot. Oh, it’s begun snowing now, but I’m giving thanks just for being alive! And so should we all, since as our Bit indicates, none of us knows what will happen on a particular day, if we’ll even live to see it through. But before we get into that, let me share a quote on an important topic that is tied into our Bit. It comes from Harold Kushner, and says: ‘To see the goal of life as ‘winning’ forces us to see other people as competitors, threats to our happiness. For us to ‘win’ they have to ‘lose.’ Ah Friends, that is so true, and sadly it’s also a policy that our society subscribes to and zealously encourages. Everything, from simple kindergarten sports and play to high finance and commerce is based on competition. This just leads to more stress than necessary or healthy in our lives and later on to boasting. That’s because in a competition based society someone has to win and someone lose. Unfortunately, that competitive spirit engendered by our society also raises the question, gives the idea that one is better than the other, and unless the winner’s ego is stable, and he’s confident in his abilities, he’s liable to go around taunting others and blowing his own trumpet. And Friends, nobody likes a boaster, especially if his boast is true, because that makes us feel inferior and kills our self-confidence. On the other hand, those who are good and know it, don’t need to boast or always win to feel good about themselves. And that’s the real difference between a true star and a wanna be: The true one doesn’t have to win to feel confident, while the wanna be only gets his confidence from winning and being able to lord it over someone else. My people it’s become a sickness in our society today, where everybody is a star, or trying their best to be one and riding roughshod over anybody in their way. Now a lot of that comes from parents who try to live vicariously through their offspring. They get their children into some activity then push, cajole and even abuse them for not being better. Just check out any youngsters’ game being played these days, and the most disgusting people around are the coaches and parents unashamedly hurling invective at the officials, their charges and each other. That’s the poor example adults are setting these days. To them the youngster’s games are no longer fun, but serious business, either for the coach to move up, the kids to impress a scout, or the parents to bask in the children’s glow and hopefully some day the money and fame they’re so sure they deserve. Thus the children end up either being driven to excel in an unhealthy, fear based manner, or just give up and walk away from the sport. And what we adults don’t see or realize in our foolish rush for worldly glory and stardom is that the early aggressive, abusive forays under the competition banner, where winning and losing are given such importance, affects the children in some negative manner for the rest of their lives. They either thrive fiercely on it, or reject it completely, unable to find a happy medium, because they were badgered so early on in life to win, win, win. We need to be more gentle with our children and teach them that winning isn’t everything, that it’s okay to lose every once in a while, that losing doesn’t make you any less a person, or any less LOVABLE or LOVED. In fact it’s good to lose every so often because one doesn’t really understand, enjoy or appreciate winning unless you’ve been on the losing end. And what it all boils down to is a matter of ego and self-confidence. As in any meeting of supposed stars, it will only go as well as the smallest ego in the room. That’s why they say to leave your ego outside when you enter a room. And ego is just the bedrock, the foundation on which our boasting is based. Jesus gives one of the best examples of foolish pride and boasting in His parable of the rich fool, who had so many worldly possessions and not enough storage room for them. So in his earthly wisdom, he decides to pull down the old warehouses and build bigger and better ones, able to accommodate his vast wealth. Then he could relax, eat, drink and be merry. Hn! Don’t many of us think the same way? But what happened? ‘God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?’ (Luke 12:19) Yes Friends, none of us knows what lies ahead for us on any given day of our earthly lives. How many times have we begun fine and figured it would go like that that all day, but halfway through it all just suddenly changes and goes downhill, or vice versa? More than we choose to remember. But that’s what life is all about; a cycle of ups and downs, over which we have only a small amount of control. And yuh know what mih people? I was planning to paraphrase James’ talk on the matter, but after reading it, the Spirit said, just copy the whole thing from the Good Book. So listen carefully to James talk on unchristian conduct, in a boasting light. ‘Go to (come) now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain (make a profit): Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice (boast) in your boastings (arrogance); all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.’ (James 4:13-17) There you have it Friends, the definitive word on boasting, from Sol, Jesus and James. So let’s go and sin not, in that respect. Much LOVE!…do not blow your horn…unless prefaced by…if Jesus will, then…
Oh Friends, it’s a cold, frosty morning in my neighbourhood, with frozen patches of snow underfoot. Oh, it’s begun snowing now, but I’m giving thanks just for being alive! And so should we all, since as our Bit indicates, none of us knows what will happen on a particular day, if we’ll even live to see it through. But before we get into that, let me share a quote on an important topic that is tied into our Bit. It comes from Harold Kushner, and says: ‘To see the goal of life as ‘winning’ forces us to see other people as competitors, threats to our happiness. For us to ‘win’ they have to ‘lose.’ Ah Friends, that is so true, and sadly it’s also a policy that our society subscribes to and zealously encourages. Everything, from simple kindergarten sports and play to high finance and commerce is based on competition. This just leads to more stress than necessary or healthy in our lives and later on to boasting. That’s because in a competition based society someone has to win and someone lose. Unfortunately, that competitive spirit engendered by our society also raises the question, gives the idea that one is better than the other, and unless the winner’s ego is stable, and he’s confident in his abilities, he’s liable to go around taunting others and blowing his own trumpet. And Friends, nobody likes a boaster, especially if his boast is true, because that makes us feel inferior and kills our self-confidence. On the other hand, those who are good and know it, don’t need to boast or always win to feel good about themselves. And that’s the real difference between a true star and a wanna be: The true one doesn’t have to win to feel confident, while the wanna be only gets his confidence from winning and being able to lord it over someone else. My people it’s become a sickness in our society today, where everybody is a star, or trying their best to be one and riding roughshod over anybody in their way. Now a lot of that comes from parents who try to live vicariously through their offspring. They get their children into some activity then push, cajole and even abuse them for not being better. Just check out any youngsters’ game being played these days, and the most disgusting people around are the coaches and parents unashamedly hurling invective at the officials, their charges and each other. That’s the poor example adults are setting these days. To them the youngster’s games are no longer fun, but serious business, either for the coach to move up, the kids to impress a scout, or the parents to bask in the children’s glow and hopefully some day the money and fame they’re so sure they deserve. Thus the children end up either being driven to excel in an unhealthy, fear based manner, or just give up and walk away from the sport. And what we adults don’t see or realize in our foolish rush for worldly glory and stardom is that the early aggressive, abusive forays under the competition banner, where winning and losing are given such importance, affects the children in some negative manner for the rest of their lives. They either thrive fiercely on it, or reject it completely, unable to find a happy medium, because they were badgered so early on in life to win, win, win. We need to be more gentle with our children and teach them that winning isn’t everything, that it’s okay to lose every once in a while, that losing doesn’t make you any less a person, or any less LOVABLE or LOVED. In fact it’s good to lose every so often because one doesn’t really understand, enjoy or appreciate winning unless you’ve been on the losing end. And what it all boils down to is a matter of ego and self-confidence. As in any meeting of supposed stars, it will only go as well as the smallest ego in the room. That’s why they say to leave your ego outside when you enter a room. And ego is just the bedrock, the foundation on which our boasting is based. Jesus gives one of the best examples of foolish pride and boasting in His parable of the rich fool, who had so many worldly possessions and not enough storage room for them. So in his earthly wisdom, he decides to pull down the old warehouses and build bigger and better ones, able to accommodate his vast wealth. Then he could relax, eat, drink and be merry. Hn! Don’t many of us think the same way? But what happened? ‘God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?’ (Luke 12:19) Yes Friends, none of us knows what lies ahead for us on any given day of our earthly lives. How many times have we begun fine and figured it would go like that that all day, but halfway through it all just suddenly changes and goes downhill, or vice versa? More than we choose to remember. But that’s what life is all about; a cycle of ups and downs, over which we have only a small amount of control. And yuh know what mih people? I was planning to paraphrase James’ talk on the matter, but after reading it, the Spirit said, just copy the whole thing from the Good Book. So listen carefully to James talk on unchristian conduct, in a boasting light. ‘Go to (come) now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain (make a profit): Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice (boast) in your boastings (arrogance); all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.’ (James 4:13-17) There you have it Friends, the definitive word on boasting, from Sol, Jesus and James. So let’s go and sin not, in that respect. Much LOVE!…do not blow your horn…unless prefaced by…if Jesus will, then…
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