It’s Sunday, Independence Day holiday has passed, and I’m returning to Proverbs. We’ve touched some of the early chapters of Proverbs in Sunday School in the last few months. So the texts are back in my mind.
Proverbs 10:1 - 3
1 The proverbs of Solomon:
A wise son makes a glad father,
But a foolish son is the grief of his mother.
2 Treasures of wickedness profit nothing,
But righteousness delivers from death.
3 The LORD will not allow the righteous soul to famish,
But He casts away the desire of the wicked.
Today the reading on the Proverbs included the fact that the form is often of couplets in which the second half parallels and amplifies the first, or is a contrary form. These three couplets are “statement, But other side of the coin.”
So what are those treasures of wickedness? Proverbs is totally devoid of the sense that “A rich man is as likely to enter the kingdom of heaven as a camel to pass through the eye of the needle.” (Paraphrasing from memory.)
In the Proverbs, a good harvest, great grain stores and healthy herds of livestock are treasures to be sought. There’s no sense that the business man who does what is needed to grow an enterprise is by definition greedy.
Treasures of wickedness perhaps are the treasures that are gained while forgetting to tend to being just, seeking wisdom and truth, in short, seeking the Lord. “Sharp practices” perhaps yeild treasures of wickedness? And our Ponzi schemers will be back in the news Monday most likely.
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While clipping a bit here and there before the lovely celebration of Independence Day I enjoyed, I saved this collection of movie clips which made me more than a bit misty.
Five top American Moments None of the clips are more than a couple minutes long, but they are classics. You’ll enjoy them if you have time to look.
And the closing quip in Gagdad’s writing on the 4th was the following:
Our founders discovered the keys to liberty, decency, and prosperity. Meanwhile, Obama is busy changing all the locks.
But now it’s full on summer!
My walks in Heritage Park are usually a bit more than three miles. The last lap is a cool down lap and if I think about it I’ve been known to grab the Nikon and take a few pictures as I “cool off.”
This gray and very still day photo got the Photo shop treatment for the worst of its flaws.
Then, I couldn’t leave well enough alone, and overlay a gradient map. The worst of this is around the trees. Otherwise, I like it.
July 6th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
on cloudy days ,photographs in black and white are terrific.