‍Words of Wisdom, Email Newsletter

Plant seeds of wisdom today

Take the next 36 or so breaths slowly and reflect deeply on your life. I hope these words help you grow in you the most valuable treasure in life: wisdom. Wisdom grows imperceptibly but flourishes like a mighty oak, standing the test of time.

WoW 130: On the confusion of the modern world

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I

Modern man is so confused he shouts to stand up for his rights, but does not first shoulder his responsibilities and carry other's burdens. The most confused are often the loudest critics. Those in the arena are often the quietest.

II

Modern man is so confused he has lost sight of the need for a fundamental knowledge set of what it is to become good. He is blind to the realities of right and wrong, confused by justice, and enraged by the need to be judged by Someone greater than himself.

III

Modern man is so confused he thinks relationships can thrive without truth or that truth thrives without relationship. Love and truth fit together and must be lived out together for flourishing to be experienced.

Quotes

"Recently a pilot was practicing high-speed maneuvers in a jet fighter. She turned the controls for what she thought was a steep ascent–and flew straight into the ground. She was unaware that she had been flying upside down. This is a parable of human existence in our times–not exactly that everyone is crashing, though there is enough of that–but most of us as individuals, and world society as a whole, live at high-speed, and often with no clue to whether we are flying upside down or right-side up. Indeed, we are haunted by a strong suspicion that there may be no difference–or at least that it is unknown or irrelevant...Indeed, in the current world of accepted knowledge one can't even know the truth of a moral theory or principle, much less a specific rule...We are not primarily in a political battle, nor is there at bottom some kind of social conspiracy afoot. "Secular humanism" is an idea movement, not the work of any individual, and before it, as a whole, individuals are little more than pawns. The seemingly triviality and irrelevance of the "merely academic" is a major part of what misleads us about the power of mere ideas."

Dallas Willard, ​Divine Conspiracy​

"We have so persistently dissembled the power of the Gospel . . . that it is pardonable if those who judge of it by us should doubt whether it is anything more efficacious and inspiring than the pathetic guesses which adorn the writings of philosophy."

B.F. Westcott, ​The Gospel of the Resurrection​

Questions

To what degree do you complain about, criticize, or condemn evil, rather than consistently create what is good, true, and beautiful?

Do you tend to error on the side of speaking the truth, or focusing on not having conflict and prioritizing a peaceful relationship? How can you move to more of a both-and today rather than an either-or?

(Use these questions as a journal prompt and to guide your prayers this week)

Endnote

When in doubt or confused, stay curious, listen deeply, and take courageous responsibility to care for others.

Live wisely,

Josh

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