Lazy W Marie

Carpeing all the diems in semi-rural Oklahoma...xoxo

You are here: Home / Archives for thinky stuff

Proverbs 31:3-7 Advice on Strength, Kings, & Alcohol

   I am gonna resist the Grand Soapbox on this particular topic, 
not because I don’t feel strongly about it but because it’s an easy one for me 
and yet I know it’s not so easy for a lot of other people.  
Also, the text is a little confusing, and while I know what it tells me 
I do not feel qualified to speak on it with authority to others.  
I’ll just lay some stuff out today, okay?
If you happen to have some insight or expertise, 
you are 100% welcome to post comments and share your knowledge or wisdom.
That’s what this is all about!

    In the light studying I have done, it seems to be a generally agreed upon point that verse three is simply foreshadowing for events in King Solomon’s reign.

“Give not thy strength unto women,
nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.”

   Are there any take-aways for us, the common people?  Not sure.  I will resist the temptation to extrapolate meanings where scholars have already explained something clearly and simply.  A King’s mother was giving her son advice which he would later need in his reign.  I can accept that much.


The Judgement of Solomon.  
A powerful story that is painfully close to my heart.

   The next four verses seem clear enough at first blush but have incited plenty of debate.  This is where I will step back a bit, quote the scripture and references, then keep my remarks brief.  For a change.  LOL.  
“It is not for kings, O :Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:
Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgement of any of the afflicted.
Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.
Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.”
Schofield References:
  • “Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!”  ~Ecclesiastes 10:17
  • “Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.”  ~Hosea 4:11

   Okay.  Here are some things I personally believe to be true, and they are what make the otherwise blurry line crystal clear for me and my life:

  • Alcohol is definitely a “mocker.”  It alters inhibitions and for many people outright changes personalities.  I do not groove this.  I like the original, please.  
  • Alcohol is addictive and dangerous, and yes I realize that some people have a stronger propensity for alcoholism than others, but I have witnessed the fallout of this condition (disease?) in lots of relationships, first hand, and it is no small problem.  I do not groove it.  I want no part of it my life or in my home.  We have friends who drink, and I don’t think we’ve ever “preached” to them about it, but it just doesn’t come to the farm.  And I have never had to worry about someone leaving one of our fun parties here and making the long drive home intoxicated.  
  • Yes, we did “preach” to the girls about avoiding alcohol when it was warranted.  It has always been important to me that they learn to maintain control over their lives and that alcohol can poison that, can poison your temple.  Some people find this radical.  I consider it it healthy.
  • The advice for kings and princes in particular to avoid wine and strong drink is plenty enough reminder for me to heed the warning.  I am in no position of authority or control in this world, but I still need my judgement to be sound.  I still want my life to run smoothly and steadily.
  • I am not sure what to say about the last verse here, about drink given to those who are suffering.  To me it speaks of compassion, but clearly I have some studying and thinking to do.
   Okay.  Yes, smarty pants, that was me N-O-T on a soapbox.  Thoughts?

Pretty Average/ Awesome Day at the Lazy W

   Today was pretty average in routine but was extraordinary in depth.
Today was luxurious in its normalcy.  I groove days like today.  
I had no frantic errands to run, no emergencies to tend, no unrealistic goals.
And the thin, delicate veil of emotion I always wear 
was strong enough today to hold reality in plain view 
and sheer enough today to help me really feel and understand everything.

Interested?

6:00 a.m.  We snooze.  Multiple times.  We cuddle and re-cuddle and cuddle again.  We spoon like professionals.  The bed is warm, and the air coming in through the open windows is cold and fresh.  The skies are so dark it could be midnight.  I snooze even through the aroma of really fresh, strong coffee wafting up through the vents.  Until the geese wake up.  They are waaaaaay louder than roosters.
6:40 a.m.  Making breakfast for Handsome, skillet grilled club steak with fried eggs, toast, coffee, and grape juice.  Just coffee for me.  Pack his lunch.  Resist a plate of homemade chocolate chip-oatmeal cookies from last night.  Thinking heavily of the girls, wondering what they’ll be doing today, remembering a vivid dream I had last night.  This one was happy though, almost too happy to believe.  I hope it’s a sign of things to come, but it’s probably just a sign of my hope.  That’s okay; it’s a lot better than more nightmares.
7:00 a.m.  Celebrate the upcoming weather forecast of rain!  Our drought has been exhausting, and one really drenching weekend could make a big difference in hay production.  Start mentally planning a bonfire party with friends.  Chat with Handsome about everything on his mind.  Morning is usually when he wants to talk, and this was, as noted, a charmed morning.  Fell in love with him all over again.
7:25 a.m.  Handsome risks life, limb, and dry cleaning expenses to release the chickens and geese while dressed for the office.  We part ways for the day.
7:30 a.m.  Make the bed, start a load of laundry, fill the dishwasher, drink another cup of coffee.  Then find a sweater and some boots to go feed and water everybody.  While flaking off a round bale in the barn, I notice the hay is coming off in thin, compressed, spiraling sheets, like a cinnamon roll.  Makes me think of a friend who makes Pioneer Woman’s cinnamon rolls expertly, so I text her.  (My friend, not PW.)  This chick is going through a lot in life but is strong and beautiful and such a happy addition to our life, I am wishing her dreams fulfilled in a BIG way.
7:55 a.m.  Back in the kitchen, one cat and one hen begging at the window.  Together.  How can I not find them treats in the fridge?  They get my intended lunch.  We all know I’m just gonna cave and have those cookies anyway.  Then back outside to water gardens, tidy up, etc.  EGAD!  We have tiny green tomatoes! In October!  
8:45 a.m  Last cup of coffee.  Lots of wonderful, loving messages today, not unrelated to the day’s specialness.  I can’t lie, I am a sucker for this many warm fuzzies.  But I nearly get derailed by the internet!!  Whoa, sister…  Whew!
9:05 a.m.  Write for a really fun writer’s workshop prompt limiting us to 100 words.  That is not very many words, you guys.  It is rad.  The other writers are crazy inspirational.  Moving along the laundry extravaganza.
9:45 a.m.  Prepping an apple shortbread tart for a friend in Handsome’s office.  Y-U-M that smells good.  Have you made it yet?  Finish filling dishwasher then start it.  Feed Pacino again (he has a hollow yellow leg these days) and deliver kitchen scraps to the chickens.  Collect just two eggs today, a lot less than normal.  Noting repairs suddenly needed in coop, I cannot imagine what happened in there.  Super happy pups today, Shao-Lin’s allergies are much better.  Geese are screaming about something, apparently just the need to be fed at the pond, not with the “common” birds.  I comply of course.  They have me so well trained.    
10:30 a.m.  Finish laundry and catch up on emails.  Discover the geese back up at the house, napping in the shade.  Ate a thick peanut butter sandwich and drank too much orange juice.  It was perfect.
11:00 a.m.  Up in the sewing room, working on apron orders and some imaginative fabric combinations.  No music today, neither any tormenting thoughts.  No tears.  Just lots of memories of family life, lots of prayers for the future, lots of strong hope and pulsing gratefulness for today.   Roosters are crowing peacefully.  Horses are ruffling and sighing at the window.  Sew Sew Sew!!!
1:20 p.m.  I sew for a long time, post some apron pics, and then read for an even longer time.  Herein lies the luxury:  Life hasn’t always afforded me this kind of disposable time, and it may not for much longer.  So for now and for as long as it is a benefit to us, I shall enjoy it.
2:40 p.m.  Read, read, read, sing with Pacino, read, dance with Pacino, read, write, write write, smile big.  Try to imagine what the girls are doing today.  Decide to throw in one last load of towels.  
3:20 p.m.  Exercise time.  In my sewing room.  As my skin heated up and the endorphins started flowing, so did the fabric ideas.  I kept stopping to position swatches and scraps together with trims and ruffles.  Dreaming big Green Goose dreams.  Remembering why we called it Green Goose in the first place.  More thoughts of the kids.  Decide to attend yoga class tomorrow.  Tell my friend and get invited to guest post on her blog!
4:00 p.m.  Shower time.  You’re welcome, everyone downwind of The Lazy W.  Then a fresh pot of coffee, a rare afternoon treat.  But my mind is loose and nimble, my typing fingers itchy.  For some reason, shampooed hair, perfume, and coffee are just my natural accompaniments for writing.  Handsome headed home now, my heart flutters.  Continued drafting a Proverbs 31 piece.  
6:15 p.m.  We both hear our stomachs growling at the same time, despite a stolen cookie.  Or three.  So I make us some grilled chicken wraps with red grapes and potato chips, and  we continued in our luxuriation.  I received a very happy phone call from our niece, a bride-soon-to-be.  I get to be in her wedding in a couple of weeks, and I am mucho excited about that.  Counting blessings, which are many.  Wondering what the girls had for dinner, but still happy, still no tears.  Just this overwhelming sense of appropriateness or something.  No, it’s calm.  Peace.  That feeling that no matter what, love trumps.
7:05 p.m.  Finishing Proverbs piece for today while Handsome does some surfing and shows me every funny thing he finds.  Pacino serenades us.  Doing some delicious blog hopping and am amazed to watch the evolution of some of my stand-by faves.
8:20 p.m.  UH-OH!!  Almost forget to lock up the geese.  I make it outside with a flashlight and find all five of them nestled up in the front yard but desperate to be put to bed.  They follow me to the coop without delay, and I am pleased to see Clark the turkey is already there too.  In the water tonight, not trapped behind the tiny coop doors.  Good luck, sir.  Good luck.
8:25 p.m.  Finished mixing up sweet iced tea and serve Handsome some of that apple tart.  Yes, it was baked for someone else, but I’m not crazy.  There are certain marital indiscretions not at all worth the price, and making this recipe without serving at least part of it to him… is on that list.  Say hello to a couple of friends, text my first born, bid the world good night. 
Again, the circumstances of today are not unusual.
It’s probably a pretty boring read to outsiders.
But I am happy to document this shift in deep peace.
I reflected all day, in relative quiet, on the roads we’re traveling.
I railed a bit against some of the injustice I see,
against some of the obvious pain and worry,
but then laughter overtook my heart and spilled out in the form of true peace.

Feeling so thankful for illogical happiness.
For unconditional trust in Love.
I hope you had a good Tuesday too.
xoxoxo

Proverbs 31: What Exactly are We Reading?

   Depending on your personal beliefs and personal tolerances, knowing the nature of what you’re reading might be just as important than the content of what you’re reading.  Or at least, it might be a prerequisite for accepting the words, the message.  

   I know I can read Grimm’s Fairy Tales for entertainment plus a little bit of old fashioned wisdom without worrying about muddying the waters of my core values.  Same goes for Bruce Lee’s Zen and the Martial Arts:  I can read his ideas as his ideas, comparing and measuring them up to what I know to be true for myself.
   Where I have to be careful is reading religious interpretation of text that is already close to my heart.  Human interpretation can be flawed, and that can be misleading.  For example, I was very cautious while reading The Shack.  Ironic, eh?  That I am attempting to share my (admittedly human) study of a book of the Bible?  Just take this as a big chunky grain of salt.  I wish only truth and stability for everybody.
   The reason I’m even thinking of all of this is that the Schofield Bible I use has that heading at the beginning of Proverbs which prepares the reader for a collection of wisdom, not a list of laws or a chronological story.  It got me wondering what are the literal similarities and differences between parables, laws, promises, folklore, warnings, etc.  Lovers of words can always appreciate the fine points, the subtle but crucial nuances of language.  What I learned isn’t groundbreaking,  but it does help me put in perspective the content of Proverbs 31.

********************
Adage:  a saying often in metaphorical form that embodies a common observation


Fable:  a fictitious narrative or statement intended to enforce a useful truth; especially one in which animals speak and act like human beings

Folklore:  traditional customs, tales, sayings, dances or art forms preserved among a people

Law:  a binding practice or custom of a community:  a rule of conduct or action prescribed or formally recognized as binding or enforced by a controlling authority

Parable:  a usually short, fictitious story that illustrates a moral attitude or a religious principle
Promise:  a legally binding declaration that gives the person to whom it is made the right to expect or to claim the performance or forbearance of a specified act

Proverb:  a brief popular epigram or maxim  (an epigram is a terse, sage, or witty, and often paradoxical saying)

Warning:  a notice or bulletin that alerts the public to an imminent hazard
Wisdom:  accumulated philosophic or scientific learning; ability to discern inner qualities or relationships

   ********************
   The Bible is filled with all of these examples and more, except perhaps the fable.  I cannot think of any fables, only God speaking through animals, which is quite different.  But until now I had always thought that Proverbs 31 was a resume of the perfect woman.  It never occurred to me that it was anything other than a strict list of requirements.  The possibility of symbolism certainly never surfaced.
 
   To read the last book of Proverbs once more, this time less as either an historical account or a list of mandates for either a woman or the church, and more as an urging toward spiritual and earthly profit, my thoughts blossomed.
   I feel more inspired and less defeated, seeing all of my womanly deficiencies.  I see the potential benefits and possibilities of following the sage advice in these thirty one verses and am a little less encumbered by the rigidity of law, etc.

   What do you think?  Do you agree a little bit?  Do you vehemently disagree?  Is it too risky to consider that anything in the Bible is anything other than strict instructions?  Are you inspired in any new way after reading Proverbs 31 as a joyful suggestion, an invitation toward something more beautiful?  Or had you always read it that way?

   Forgive me if I am a bit long winded tonight; I participated in a limited-word exercise earlier today and am experiencing a crazy bottleneck of words at rush hour in my brain.  Whew!

 

Proverbs 31:1-2 Speaker, Context, & Interpretation

   First off, I would like to encourage you to read this blogger’s thoughts on the entire book of Proverbs throughout the month.  Proverbs is a juicy, meaty piece of text to read almost no matter who you are or what your exact personal condition at the moment, because, as Schofield puts it, “This collection of sententious sayings is divine wisdom applied to the earthly conditions of the people of God.”  
   Sententious means, “Given to or abounding in aphoristic expression  Given to or abounding in excessive moralizing.”  
   Aphoristic means, “A concise statement of a principle.  A terse formulation of a truth or sentiment.” 
   
   I groove direct and timeless.  I groove applicable wisdom, and this is it baby.
   This is a flavor apart from law and parable; this is a rich assemblage of morals, rules of thumb, bits of wisdom, and (then) socially agreed upon objectives for us to digest and consider.
   The final part of the six parts of this book is chapter 31, which is my focus this month.  I did quite a bit of reading to learn about the speaker and context of these thirty one verses, only to discover a rare Biblical mystery.  Evidently quite a bit of debate remains over the true identity of “Lemuel,” some people believing he is actually King Solomon (making the speaker’s mother Bathsheba), others understanding the translation to be almost symbolic, more of a general representation of God’s king, or a man dedicated to God.   
   I encourage you to read more on your own if the background feels vital to your acceptance or understanding of this book.  There is always Wikipedia, but I personally found this writer to be clear and studious.  Also, this site was easy to read.   As always, if you happen to have some insight on this topic PLEASE share!
“The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy 
that his mother taught him.
What, my son?  and what, the son of my womb?
and what, the son of my vows?”
~Proverbs 31:1-2

   So we begin the month ready to explore either advice given to an historical king by his trusted and beloved mother or just really good, deep down wisdom that applies to all of us.  Perhaps especially those in positions of authority.  Maybe both.

   I can hardly wait!

 

Proverbs 31: Overview & a Realization

   After deciding to spend the month of October studying, exploring, and displaying the book of Proverbs 31, my mind sort of exploded.  But I liked it.  My heart swelled and my thoughts gained momentum in a really exciting, dangerous way.  There are so many writing possibilities here, so much potential learning to do!  Can I please have more than one month?
   Here are just a few of the very meaty topics 
that are begging to be covered:
  • Have you ever noticed that this thirty-first chapter of Proverbs also has thirty one verses?  Is there any significance to that?
  • Who are the speakers and what is the context?  What was going on in history at this time?
  • What is the difference between a proverb and a fable?
  • Did you know that some theologians argue that this book, though traditionally understood to be instructive to women, might actually bend toward instruction to the church?  This is at least consistent with the New Testament analogy of Christ’s bride.  Hmm.
  • Fascinating advice on dealing with the poor, defenseless, and underprivileged.
  • I have never owned a ruby.  What ARE they worth?  
  • How can the modern woman translate the resourcefulness of the Proverbs 31 woman?  I mean, we don’t really have flax to work.  Wait, what is flax again?
  • Food management and nutrition in an extreme couponing, fast food culture:  How do we strike the balance and please God?
  • Real Estate.  Hmm.
  • Strength of body versus vanity in an image-obsessed but wildly healthless culture.  (Has there ever before been such a paradox for women?)
  • Charity.
  • Household preparedness:.  Winter is Coming.
  • Significance of the colors scarlet & purple, of silk & tapestries.
  • Husband’s reputation.
  • Contributions to the family/ marriage by way of her skills.
  • Bread of Idleness:  REALLY interesting how this interacts with the Biblical importance of leavening, both Old and New Testaments.  
  • Excellence:  WOW.
  • Favor & beauty:  Some people call these evil, but is that what is actually says?
  • The ways of Her Household:  Mind Yer Beeswax.

   
   What I can say with certainty is that this book is a timeless source of inspiration for women across the centuries, in every walk of life and every “religion.”  Writers have always had a lot to say about these few dozen sentences, so I guess I am I just late to an awesome party.
   So….. regardless of how much or how little I manage to accomplish with this October study, the obvious fact remains that it will be insufficient.  This can only be a springboard study, but it can still be nourishing.
  
   I hope that whatever your path is right now, you give Proverbs 31 a glance, at least a philosophical one, and share your thoughts, you reactions, your personal  experiences.  I think Truth grooves this kind of networking.  Please share your thoughts and insights in the comments.  I would love to spark an exchange and really make some spiritual progress here!
     This month of study will be well spent.