Sharks and Leviathans

September 29, 2023 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

Who has a claim against me that I must pay?
Everything under heaven belongs to me.
Job 41:11 (NIV)

Wendy and I have a little library of children’s books that resides just past the entrance of our home in a corner of the living room. It’s there for grandchildren and wee friends who come over for a visit. Among some of our favorites, there are also a couple of picture books with an exhaustive number of different creatures, critters, and creepy-crawlers from the animal kingdom.

Milo quickly learned that Ya-Ya (Grandma Wendy) has this thing with sharks. She doesn’t like them. Sharks produce a fear in Wendy that she’ll admit is slightly irrational. She doesn’t even want to see pictures of them.

So, of course, Milo always wants to read the creatures book and make Ya-Ya look at sharks.

God’s final discourse to Job ends with two poems that are somewhat mysterious. Each describes a mighty creature. The first describes a Behemoth and the other a Leviathan. The words are transliterations of the original Hebrew words because the exact identification of the animal or creature being described has been lost. Thus, the mystery. Both the Behemoth and Leviathan are mentioned multiple times in other biblical texts.

Scholars over the years have suggested that Behemoth’s description as an amazingly strong, dangerous, semi-aquatic, herbivore might suggest it is a hippopotamus. Hippos are often mistaken as docile creatures. Hippo attacks account for the deaths of about 500 people each year.

Leviathan is a bit different story because while some scholars suggest that it could refer to a crocodile. If that is true, then the description is hyperbolic and exaggerated. It’s certainly possible that hyperbole was a literary device in the ancient Hebrew poem.

As I read the Leviathan poem in the quiet this morning, it appeared to me to describe your standard dragon. Other scholars agree and suggest that Leviathan is a variation on a mythological creature from ancient Canaan called Lôtan. Lôtan was a seven-headed dragon who mythologically symbolized almost invincible power that stands in opposition to God. This caught my eye as I read about it this morning because our local gathering of Jesus’ followers is studying the book of Revelation which describes an enormous red dragon with seven heads (Rev 12:3).

No matter what the mysterious Behemoth and Leviathan are, the point that God is making is perfectly clear. Each represents an untamed, dangerous creature that would immediately strike fear in Job. It’s kind of like young Milo showing Ya-Ya pictures of sharks. God is in essence saying, “If you’re afraid of confronting a Behemoth or a Leviathan, how much more afraid should you be of the Creator who made them? Isn’t the Creator far greater in power and danger than either of them?”

Which, in the quiet this morning, has me thinking once again about that which is holy. When Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him up on the mountain and they saw Him transfigured into blinding, glorious light before their eyes while the voice of God thundered. Matthew writes that the three disciples “fell facedown to the ground, terrified.”

I think about the three disciples who enjoyed an intimate, human relationship with Jesus. They laughed with Him, ate meals with Him, and told stories around the campfire at night. They enjoyed familiar friendship and companionship with Him. When they experienced His unveiled power and glory on the mountain, they got a dose of his holiness and they hit the ground face down.

God is reminding Job of His holiness, and it’s a good reminder for me. I have experienced a relationship with Jesus full of grace, love, and forgiveness. But I should always be mindful that Jesus love and grace does not diminish His holiness, and neither should I.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Job Almighty

September 28, 2023 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

Do you have an arm like God’s,
and can your voice thunder like his?
Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor,
and clothe yourself in honor and majesty.
Job 40:9-10 (NIV)

It has been a long time since I’ve watched the film Bruce Almighty with Jim Carrey and Morgan Freeman. It’s time to watch it again. The comedy tells of a comical Job-like character (Jim Carrey) who has a terrible, awful, no-good, very bad day. Like Job, Bruce blames God for not answering his prayers and allowing the bad things to happen. So, God shows up (Morgan Freeman) and offers Bruce the opportunity to take on the job himself. God gives Job the job of hearing and answering prayers.

I thought of the film today as God continues His response to Job’s contentious complaints. In today’s chapter, God waxes a bit sarcastic, telling Job that if he thinks he is up to going toe-to-toe with the Almighty, then he should “adorn himself with glory and splendor and clothe himself with honor and majesty” and take over God’s Department of Justice. If Job can prove that he can contend with the wickedness of humanity and dole out eternal judgement on evil, then God says He will admit that Job could handle things on his own.

The underlying theme of God’s rhetorical questions has already been understood by Job. At the beginning of today’s chapter God gives Job the opportunity to speak for himself in response to God’s first discourse. Job chooses to humbly cover his mouth.

There is a scene in Bruce Almighty that regularly comes up in conversation between Wendy and me. A young boy is getting bullied and beat up by his peers. He cries out for God to help. Bruce grants the boys wish and with divine power he turns on his attackers and metes out just punishment. Bruce feels pretty good about the outcome. God tells Bruce that His plan for the boy was that he would become a gifted poet who channeled his pain into beautiful words that glorified God and blessed multitudes. Having learned to use personal power and violence to render others to submission and raise his personal profile, the boy would now become a bully himself.

The scene is a simple metaphor, as were all of Jesus’ parables. Yet, like Jesus’ parables, it captures a much larger truth that I find relevant to the Job story. Throughout the Great Story, God reminds me that there is both purpose and spiritual progress in the pain of this earthly journey. Bruce learns that when he simply gives everyone the answers to their prayers it doesn’t have the results he expects. Quite the opposite, it results in chaos.

Our ways are not God’s ways.

In the quiet this morning, I reflect on over a half century of life journey and cognitive memories. I have been incredibly blessed in the grand scheme of things. For that I’m perpetually grateful. I have also suffered through the consequences of bad choices, unforeseen tough times, and negative natural disasters that my insurance agent still refers to in Job-like fashion as “acts of God.” When I reflect on which life experiences had the most to teach me, the events that shaped me into a more mature and gracious human being, it is the tough times. The stretches of Easy Street ironically bring out the worst in me.

In a few minutes I will join Wendy in the kitchen and peruse the headlines speaking of greater contention, conflict, and political chaos than has been experienced in my lifetime. Has this chaos emerged from a nation of people struggling to survive day-to-day, or have they emerged from a nation of people who have known greater comfort, affluence and prosperity than any people group in the history of human civilization?

I have come to the conclusion that getting everything I want isn’t a good thing in the long run, while suffering has consistently been spiritually better for me than I would have possibly imagined.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Answers in Questions

September 27, 2023 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

“Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom
and spread its wings toward the south?”
Job 39:26 (NIV)

Jesus occasionally and famously answered questions with questions. When His enemies were trying to trap Him into saying something they could use against Him, He turned the tables and asked them whether his cousin, John the Baptist, baptized people with divine authority or if he was a crackpot who should be ignored. It was a lose-lose question for the powerful religious leaders. If they said John baptized with divine authority the crowds would ask why it was that they were so critical and dismissive of the John. If they said the popular desert preacher was a crackpot they would take a huge hit in their public approval ratings. Jesus’ enemies refused to answer His question, so He refused to answer theirs.

God has two discourses in which He speaks. to Job out of the storm. In each, God answers Job with rhetorical questions that Job could never answer. He begins with questions of the universe, the spirit realm, and the cosmology of the earth then switches to questions about the animal kingdom. With each question, Job’s ignorance and lack of knowledge is apparent, as is God’s power and sovereignty.

Like Jesus with His accusers, God refuses to answer Job’s questions unless Job can answer His. Job’s suffering is never mentioned. There is not even an acknowledgment of Job’s circumstances, his mock trial, his prosecutorial examination. or his “signed defense.”

As I pondered this in the quiet this morning, I heard the echo of God’s words through the prophet Isaiah:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

A few chapters back, I posited that when it comes to others lives and troubles “we don’t know what we don’t know.” Now God takes that reality to the highest level. I am ignorant of God’s designs and purposes. My finite mind can’t fully grasp the infinity of God’s power. Yet, as a disciple of Jesus I am assured in the Great Story that, ultimately and eternally, all things work together for good.

I can have faith in God and His promise that there is a plan and purpose into which my life and my troubles are woven.

Like Jesus’ enemies, I can also choose to walk away.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

The Last Word

September 26, 2023 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:
“Who is this that obscures my plans
    with words without knowledge?
Brace yourself like a man;
    I will question you,
    and you shall answer me.
Job 38:1-3 (NIV)

For some reason, I’ve always gotten the role of Master of Ceremonies (M.C.). It started in high school when I was asked to do the P.A. announcements over the school intercom each morning, then went on to be Master of Ceremonies M.C. at the Homecoming and other all-school assemblies, which led to being the P.A. announcer at athletic events. It never really stopped. Through college and to this day I regularly get asked to M.C. different events. The reality is that officiating a wedding or funeral is, in essence, being an M.C.. I enjoy doing it. As a result, I’ve learned a lot about doing this over the decades.

There is a protocol for traditional, formal events (even though traditions have waned a lot in my lifetime). One such protocol is that the most “important” person on the program always speaks last. It is a position of honor. The most important person gets the last word. Of course, that is dependent on the event planner’s definition of who is the most “important.”

I once had the opportunity to attend the President’s annual Prayer Breakfast in Washington D.C. back in the early 1990s. The guest speaker was Mother Theresa, but the place of honor as the final speaker of the event went to President Clinton. It was a rare, awkward moment in which I got to observe the Kingdom of God and an empire of this world collide. I’d never seen President Clinton like I observed him that morning. To this day, I believe that if you asked the former President he would agree that all honor that morning should have gone to the diminutive, soft-spoken nun from Calcutta. Every one in the room knew it. It was a living parable of Jesus’ teaching about where treasure and things of eternal “importance” reside.

In today’s chapter, we finally reach the place of honor in the Job Story. Job has spoken. His three friends Eli the elder, Bill, and Z have spoken. Eli the younger then did his know-it-all bit. A scattered thunderstorm now suddenly blows in and God speaks to Job from amidst the storm.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself contemplating this simple truth which is repeated throughout the Great Story. God always holds the place of honor. God always has the last Word. It happens in the Job story. Jesus taught it incessantly. John’s Revelation loudly proclaims it. As a disciple of Jesus, I believe it with my whole heart. God will have the final Word.

How then should I live, think, speak, and act this day?

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Holy Shift

September 25, 2023 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power;
in his justice and great righteousness, he does not oppress.
Job 37:23 (NIV)

Yesterday, among our local gathering of Jesus’ followers, we focused on a the strange and wondrous description of John provides of his experience being given a glimpse of God’s heavenly throne room in Revelation 5. His description echoes some of the same themes as Isaiah’s similar experience in Isaiah 6. In order to help us imagine the descriptions, the room yesterday was set up “in the round” just as the John describes the multitudes encircling the throne. A censer was lit with incense just as the text describes the prayers of the people rising like incense. The smoke continued to waft upward during the service. In John’s vision, angels never stop proclaiming God’s holiness and eternal presence repeating “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty. Who was, and is, and is to come.” Our gathering sang multiple songs proclaiming and praising God’s holiness.

Holiness is a concept that is I’ve long misunderstood. As a child, I was taught that holiness was basically synonymous with moral purity. Our children’s generation have, with some justification, decried the “purity culture” with which institutional church culture was obsessed for a while. There is an entire sub-culture of individuals from their generation writing books and podcasting their anger. As a result, there are many who have walked away from the church and their faith. In my observation and contemplation of this generational reformation, one of the institutional churches mistakes was an emphasis on moral purity that was at least partially rooted in this misconception of “holiness” as “moral purity.”

The word “holy” is easily misunderstood precisely because it is hard to easily define with words. This, I find, is a lot like God Himself. In his Holy Shift tour, Rob Bell uses a lot of human experiences to describe “holy” moments when, as humans, we know that there is something happening that is far greater, more powerful, and other worldly than ourselves. This is the gateway to that which is “holy.”

One moment that comes to mind is the moment my mother breathed her last this past March, with my dad and sister and I sitting next to her. When suddenly there is one less person in the room, but the same number of bodies, than where a moment ago is a holy moment. Likewise, when a woman gives birth and there is one more life in the room is a holy moment. I remember sitting in a car with my friend on the easter shore of Lake Michigan at sunset staring at the Chicago skyline in the distance and watching a massive, angry, severe thunderstorm moving our way with non-stop lighting and thunder and churning clouds. It filled me with awe and wonder that I have never, ever forgotten. These experiences do begin to allow me to understand was “holy” really means. It reminds me of Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart whose definition of pornography was “I know it when I see it.” It’s that way with holiness. The simple description is perpetually elusive, but when you encounter a holy moment, you know it.

Today’s chapter marks the end of Eli the younger’s run-on discourses in response to the suffering Job. I have to admit that, while young Eli is not “perfect in knowledge” like he thinks he is and claims to be, he did save his best stuff for last. In wrapping up his words to Job, Eli points Job to the awe inspiring wonders of creation to describe a holy God who is beyond our human imaginations. He basically says to Job that Job’s complaints are puny and hollow in relation to a holy God.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself wrestling with this elusive definition of holy. Holy is certainly exceedingly, abundantly, beyond the simple notion of a teenager meeting the moral standards of his or her parent’s or church’s perfectionistic checklist. That paltry definition calls for reformation and a “holy shift.” It felt to me like young Eli was getting close in today’s chapter, perhaps as close as any finite human can. And that is what I’m going to take with me into this week. I’m asking God for some holy moments. I’m seeking them out. I have my spiritual antennae up.

I’m not sure how to define or anticipate what those holy moments might be, but I’ll know them when I experience them.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Two Lessons

September 22, 2023 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

“Be assured that my words are not false;
one who has perfect knowledge is with you.”
Job 36:4 (NIV)

I remember a college history course in which we were to write a ten-page paper. I don’t even remember the assignment. What I do remember was a young man in the class who immediately and vociferously objected to the large red “F” the professor had written on his paper.

“Dr. Clossman!? How could I have failed?! The assignment was a ten page paper and my paper was 35 pages long?!”

“Yes,” Dr. Clossman answered, “but you wrote 35 pages and didn’t say anything!”

Along my life journey, I’ve occasionally encountered individuals who have an endless supply of words while at the same time possessing the social awareness of a slab of granite. The result is that they will talk non-stop while not being able to pick up on the non-verbal social cues of their listeners that it’s time to stop talking and let someone else have a word. When I encounter individuals like this I often play a game in which I time how many minutes the person will talk non-stop if I just let them go.

I’m kind of feeling that way with young Eli.

Today’s chapter is just the first half of Eli the younger’s fourth and final discourse. He is on a roll, and not in a good way. Neither Job, nor any of the three elders have piped up and so young Eli’s stream of words is going to keep flowing. He starts his final discourse full of bluster. He is God’s chosen representative, and has so much to teach these ignorant old men. He is full of “knowledge from afar” and with his presence “perfect knowledge” has arrived to teach Job truth.

Young Eli then goes on to falsely accuse Job of preferring evil to repentance. But that’s 180 degrees different than God’s estimation of Job as “blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” So, young Eli’s knowledge is less than perfect. Though, the young man does say some things that are true. Even the worst players on Jeopardy! get a couple of questions right.

In the quiet this morning, I counted how many verses young Eli has spoken non-stop. When I get through the final half of his fourth discourse next monday, the young man will have spoken 156 verses. Then I counted how many verses God speaks in the subsequent chapters. God says what He has to say in 127 verses.

I end this week with two lessons resonating in my soul:

When saying something, make sure I have something to say.
Talk less than God.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Eli’s Unintended Lesson

September 21, 2023 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

How much less, then, will [God] listen
when you say that you do not see him,
that your case is before him
and you must wait for him.
Job 35:14 (NIV)

Eli the younger is a fascinating character in the larger context of the Job Story. He isn’t mentioned at all in the opening introduction of Job’s three friends. He just kind of appears out of nowhere once Job and the three elder friends have finished their conversation and then presumes, as the youngest person with the least life experience, to teach the rest of the men wisdom.

What a twit.

In yesterday’s post/podcast I mentioned one of the life lessons I carried with me from the days of my divorce: I don’t know what I don’t know. It seems to have resonated with a lot of people. As I meditated on today’s chapter of young Eli’s continued know-it-all blather, there was another lesson from the days of my divorce that came to mind.

I received a long, hand written letter during that period of time. It was about ten pages written on both sides. The entire letter was a scripture laden treatise on the unforgivable sin of divorce and a pronouncement of my eternal condemnation to hell.

Three observations: First of all, it was a letter – not a personal visit to say, “Tom, I hear you’re going through a rough time. Let me buy you a cup of coffee. I’d love to hear how you’re doing.” Second of all, I and my family are going through one of the most difficult and painful of human experiences and you want to take this moment to condemn me? As the saying goes, “With friends like that, who needs enemies?” Finally, the ironic thing is that the person who wrote the letter had a wife who left him decades before, divorced him, and got remarried but the letter-writer refused to acknowledge the fact. So, is your letter about me or is really about you?

What a twit.

Throughout young Eli’s four speeches, Job remains silent.

I get it. I immediately threw the letter away.

I do find a lesson to be learned from Eli the younger’s self-important arguments, but not the lessons I think he intended. The lesson I’m taking away from his discourses so far is that I don’t want to be a twit to my friends when they’re suffering and struggling. Maybe a little compassion and a lot less self-importance and condemnation.

It’s been in the worst stretches of my life journey that I learned who my friends really are.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Uncategorized

I Don’t Know What I Don’t Know

September 20, 2023 Tom Vander Well 3 Comments

‘Job speaks without knowledge;
his words lack insight.’
Job 34:35 (NIV)

It’s been almost two decades since my first marriage ended. Back in those days there was quite a public stir around the divorce. A lot of speculation was making the rounds on the local grapevine, most all of it incorrect. I remember the feeling of helplessness to stop or control any of it. I learned many things during that stretch of my life journey.

One of the lessons that I still carry with me from those days is the fact that when it comes to what others are going through, I don’t know what I don’t know. I think of all the ignorant speculation that swirled around my divorce from people who knew very little about me, my marriage, or my circumstances. I also can easily make ignorant speculations about others despite having very little knowledge and without having all of the facts. I have become much more reticent to make speculative judgments of others. As a disciple of Jesus, my default is to be love not judgment.

In today’s chapter, Eli the younger continues his discourse. Once again, he recalls Job’s own words in an effort to refute them. Once again, he gets Job’s words mostly, but not completely, right. Young Eli then defends God from what he perceives to be Job’s insistence that God had done evil in his circumstances. He passionately defends God’s goodness, rightness, and just judgments.

Young Eli then makes the statement that Job “speaks without knowledge.”

This caught my eye because he is correct. Job has no knowledge of the conversations that took place between God and the evil one. But the same is also true of young Eli and his three elders. They have all made speculative arguments in reaching their conclusions.

In the quiet this morning, my mind conjures up the names and faces of individuals in my own circles of influence who have been at the center of public scrutiny for a variety of reasons. I’m thinking back to my own thoughts, words, and actions towards those individuals both in their presence and when they have come up in conversation. My endeavor is to be gracious and humble in the knowledge and acknowledgement that I don’t know what I don’t know.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Young Eli’s Approach

September 19, 2023 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

“But you have said in my hearing—
I heard the very words—
Job 33:8 (NIV)

In my vocational career, I do a lot of coaching and training in the subjects of customer communication and customer service. The most requested topic, by far, is how to handle angry and escalated customers. I always begin addressing the topic with a simple truth that must be understood: There is no magic formula or simple ingredient that works every time. That said, there are a handful of tactics that can and do help in many situations.

One of the most simple and basic of tactics is to conversationally address the angry customer by name. The use of names in a conversation implies that there is a relationship. When relationships break down, it is common for people to stop addressing one another by name, referring to one another by pronouns or epithets instead. It is easier for some people to rant and and curse to a nameless, disembodied voice over the phone. When names are used then a relationship is implied and the nameless, disembodied voice becomes an actual person to the angry customer on the other end of the phone.

Today’s chapter is the opening of what will be five straight chapters of Eli the younger’s wisdom for Job. He gives Job free reign to respond at the end of today’s chapter. However, Job has stated his closing argument, and he refuses to respond. Young Eli takes this as permission to give Job an earful.

There is something different in the way young Eli addresses Job. Unlike Eli the elder, Bill, and Z, the young man actually speaks directly to Job, addressing him by name. The elder three never addressed Job by name, which is rather fascinating when you think about it. They are likely closer in age to Job and also likely to have experienced more of life with him. One would think that there would be more intimacy between the elder friends and the suffering Job. Perhaps their arm’s length approach hints at their fear of getting too close to Job, as if his suffering might be contagious.

Another subtle difference in the way young Eli approaches Job is his refusal to directly accuse Job of wrongdoing. The elder three friends were convinced that some heinous and hidden sin must be present for God to punish Job and make him suffer. Instead, Eli establishes a pattern in which he addresses and refutes Job’s own words:

“But you have said in my hearing…” (verse 8)
“But I tell you…” (verse 12)

In this, I heard echoes of Jesus’ message on the mountain when He repeatedly used a similar device:

“You have heard that it was said…” (Matthew 5:21)
“But I tell you…” (Matthew 5:22)

What is fascinating as young Eli launches into his discourse is that he claims to have heard Job say things that Job never said. For example, Eli claims that Job said he was “pure and free from sin.” Quite the opposite, Job readily admitted to being a sinner (7:21; 13:26). Job’s claim is that if he did anything to deserve the suffering he is experiencing then he’d like God to tell him what it is.

Young Eli goes on to refute Job’s notion that God is silent. He argues that God can and does speak in various ways. In this the young man is not wrong. He is, however, using a blunt instrument (God is never silent) to address what is a rather surgically precise argument on Job’s part (God has not addressed my specific complaint).

As I sat and meditated on young Eli’s self-proclaimed many words of wisdom, I found myself also contemplating Job’s silence which I find to reflect a very different kind of wisdom. Proverbs 10:19 says, “When there are many words, sin is unavoidable, but the one who controls his lips is wise.” In the modern day world of social media, there is no lack of words from an infinite number of voices. Increasingly, when I feel compelled to add my words onto the pile, I choose Job’s path of wisdom and simply keep silent.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day, Uncategorized

Wisdom & Age

September 18, 2023 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

“For I am full of words,
and the spirit within me compels me…”
Job 32:18 (NIV)

I once had a boss who was fond of a saying:

When I was in my 20s I was a fine young man.
When I was in my 30s I was a young man.
When I was in my 40s I was a man.
When I turned 50, I became one of the boys.

I was in my 20s back then, and I remember getting tired of hearing him repeat it. I also remember observing my boss and his “old boys” network. What was ironic to me was the foolishness and blind spots that I witnessed amidst the hubris of aged wisdom.

When I was a young man, I memorized Paul’s words to a young Timothy when he wrote: Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. And, I endeavored to live by them. In some ways, I was successful. I enjoyed some amazing experiences for a young person. In other ways, however, I was still a foolish young man. There are certain aspects of wisdom that I discovered are gained only with age and life experience.

In today’s chapter, we meet a fourth companion of Job, young Eli, who has been sitting and listening to Job and his three friends this whole time. Young Eli has been “quick to listen and slow to speak,” but with Job’s closing argument he can no longer keep silent. He tells his four elders that he has a lot of words, and boy does he. We’ll be reading young Eli’s words all week long.

Young Eli begins by noting his deference to the four elders, explaining that it is out of respect to their age that he has kept silent. He then points out that Job and the three elders have run out of words in a stalemate, but he has something to add to the argument that the others have failed to say.

Along my life journey, I have observed that, in general, there is a certain wisdom that comes with age. At the same time, I have also observed young people with wisdom beyond their years as well as foolish elders who appear to have missed picking up wisdom along life’s road. As young Eli says in today’s chapter:

“But it is the spirit in a person,
the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding.
It is not only the old who are wise,
not only the aged who understand what is right.“

In the quiet this morning, I find myself contemplating wisdom. I hope that I never stop gaining wisdom on this life journey, but I also desire that I should gain humility in equal measure, and love more than the two combined.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Wayfarer

Monthly Archives: September 2023

Sharks and Leviathans