PROVERBS

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 25^th Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, “Proverbs”.

The first reading for yesterday, today and tomorrow are all from the Book of Proverbs - which is part of the Kethuvim or “Writings” in the Jewish Scriptures - which some Christians call the Old Testament. Now some don’t because it could be not EC - that is, Ecumenically correct. Sometimes “old” implies value; sometimes it might be seen as implying “less” or what have you.

Christians divide the Old Testament into 4 sections. The Bible is a library, so Christians divide the library into 4 sections: The Pentateuch, the Historical Books, the Wisdom Books, and the Prophets.

The Jewish Scriptures are divided into 3 sections in the library: the Torah - which we call the Pentateuch; the second part or division is the Nevi’im or the Prophets - which includes some historical books as well; and the 3^rd part is the Kithuvim - which has historical writings - along with some wisdom literature.

It’s in this third part - the Kethuvim we find the Book of Proverbs. Today’s proverbs are part of a collection of 376 proverbs attributed to Solomon. In the Middle East - dare we say many cultures - the king is seen as a source of wisdom.

Dare we also say every culture has proverbs - usually short statements that give practical advice or insight. Here are 3 proverbs about money not in the Bible - from different cultures: 

·        Portuguese proverb: “Give me money, not advice.”

·        Russian proverb: “When money speaks, truth keeps silent.”

·        Italian proverb: “Public money is like holy water - everyone dips their hand into it.”

SOME HOMEWORK FOR YOU

To be practical here is some homework.

I mentioned in my homily for Sunday: if you want to read the Bible and don’t know where to start, one good place would be the Letter of James.

I added: in general, “Don’t start with book one: Genesis.”

The Book of Proverbs might be a second smart place to start after James. You can just skim through this book and pick out 3 to 5 proverbs that grab you. This could be like going through the Old Reader’s Digest when they had the “Points to Ponder” and “Quotable Quotes” sections.

Doing that would keep on building up interest  and use of the Bible as one finds some down deep practical wisdom sayings.

Further homework could be what I would call, “Proverb Therapy.”

I already have pushed what I call “Story Therapy”.  I hold that everyone has 5 to 10 stories they use to deal with life’s issues - and self healing - and healthy ways to look at life.

I am also thinking that everyone uses “Proverb Therapy.”

For example, how many people in the midst of suffering say, “I thought I had it bad - but it could be worse - because I met a really sick person.” You’ve heard the saying, “My big toe was killing me till I met someone without any feet.”

How many 12 Step Folks in AA or other 12 Step programs say over and over again, “A step at a time.” or “Easy does it.” or “A day at a time.” Then there is my favorite saying in AA -  the first half of which is a saying from Jesus, “The truth will set you free, but first it will hurt.”

CONCLUSION

Life is a classroom. Stop complaining about  teachers - because you’re the teacher and you're the student and everyday has it lessons. Learn them. Do your homework. Then you can go out and play - because all work and no play - makes one a pretty dull person.  Let's add, "... because all work and all play and no prayer- means a dull person as well."