News
Seven Wise Counselors
August 20, 2010
I have come to realize something about myself, I don’t like researching things. Research is like opening up Pandora’s box. One question branches out into a family tree of questions and before long I find myself lost in details I didn’t know I didn’t know.
Take cellphone plans, for example, if you have ever thought, “Maybe I should change my cellphone provider/plan,” buy Advil first. There are few things as frustrating as figuring out cellphone plans.There are so many options now and the options have options, variables, fine print, contracts and no contracts, and so many details and exceptions to these that, after a while, I feel like I am losing my mind! I think “they” do this purposely so that after a while people will say, “Enough!” dip their hand into the cellphone sea of information and go with whatever they pull up.
As soon as you start researching things you enter a maze where figuring out one thing, leads to something else you don’t understand. I started looking for a simple cellphone plan, the most inexpensive, no-contract one with a good texting option and I ended up trying to figure out the world of GMS phones and SIM cards, unlocking phones and what is “jailbreaking” a phone? Agh! Why can’t it be simple: one, two, three, make a decision, done. Well, it can, but then you don’t always get the best deal.
Proverbs 26:16 is an interesting little verse on this topic, “Lazy people consider themselves smarter than seven wise counselors.” As I was digging into the meaning behind this verse, I thought this was an interesting note:
“The lazy person thinks he has life all figured out and has chosen the wise course of action, but he is simply lazy. J.H. Greenstone says, for example, ‘Much anti-intellectualism may be traced to such rationalization for laziness.’” (Notes on the verse from bible.org)
When I go to the shelf and buy something without researching alternatives, I am doing so because it is easier; I don’t have to expend any mental energy on it. I am doing what Proverbs 26:16 is describing. By choosing not to think, I have taken the sluggard’s course of action.
The thing is, cellphone plans are not going to make or break my life; but some things will. Huge, life altering decisions are often made without “seven wise counselors.” Sometimes we endure years of pain and heartache because we get all Frank Sinatra and just do it our way. It seems our default button is “I’m right;” we have such a tough time being a student. This isn’t smart; it’s anti-smart.
I want to be wise about the decisions I make, but, oh, my head gets tired sometimes. I get tired of figuring new things out; especially things that are hard to figure out. I would like it if things were a little more compartmentalized, you know, deal with one thing and then deal with the next. Some days I don’t have the energy to spend more time on yet another thing. As I am listening to myself I am thinking about the danger of making decisions when I am worn out or under pressure. Careful. Then, especially then, I need seven wise counselors.
I am really not an expert on anything; I need all the help I can get, so I have come to really respect good researchers. One good website comparing 15 plans, or one really smart friend who has done the work ahead of me, and things begin to take shape for me. I know a few people who LOVE researching things; anything! Mike and I have phoned them more than once and asked them if they know something about a pretty random thing we are learning about. Inevitably, they do and they are more than willing to share their wealth of information. It is like seven wise counselors in one shot! AWESOME!
– Teresa Klassen (http://www.onebrownleaf.wordpress.com)
Read MoreConsider: The Outcome
August 13, 2010
Part 10 of “Consider This”
Guilty pleasure: in summer I run out to Value Village (love Value Village) and buy old, used magazines to read; we’re talking “People,” “Vogue,” “O,” “Us;” anything that doesn’t require something like a brain to get through. Then, floating on the lake on an air-mattress or lounging around at the beach, I read all about what sources are saying about what other sources are saying about celebrities; fascinating! Plus I get to see what they are wearing and who wore it best because I will never actually own any of these clothes; important!
What’s interesting about reading these slightly out-of-date magazines is that I get to celebrate who is together and, a few magazines away, feel bad about how they broke up all in one sitting. I get to read about an exciting new film some actress is in and then just an hour later, hear how badly she behaved on set, fought with fellow actors the whole way through and bombed at the box office! Best friends become worst friends, romance ends up in scandal, and million dollar dresses are on one magazine’s best-dressed list and in another’s worst. It’s a mad world we live in.
I am not exactly looking for life-lessons in these gossip magazines; it’s pretty hard to when you don’t know what is actually real; but I guess the outcomes speak for themselves. When you are looking at someone who is married 5 times, or is in rehab “again,” or is at the bottom when at one time they were “the most sought after,” there is a window into what must be true: disappointment, disillusionment, embarrassment, loneliness, confusion. One can assume.
Outcomes; that’s really what I am thinking about today. With the thousands of years that humans have occupied the earth, with quite a lot written down about the comings and goings of them, you would think we would be less likely to do really stupid things; but we aren’t. What we do, has been done before (nothing new under the sun, the writer of Ecclesiastes tells us, and he wrote this eons ago) so why, oh why, do we not take the lessons to heart?
It isn’t just the immediate consequences that we ought to consider but the aftershock, the thing that generations after us will feel; how about that?
Let me turn this around a little. Hebrews 13:7 calls us to, “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.” There is so much pain to be avoided, so many mistakes we can bypass, so many good things we can have going on in our lives (and blessings to hand to the next generation) if only we would intentionally consider the outcomes of those who, in some way, are leading the way.
I have leaders in my life I watch. Some of them have official positions of leadership; others are leading and probably don’t even know it. Some people are leaders in “categories” that interest me (like acceptance, compassion, conviction, creativity, relationships, parenting, resourcefulness, youthful-optimism/curiosity); they are people who seem to have a grasp on a single thing that I am trying to understand; I watch them; I try to imitate so as to understand and own what I see. I have seen an outcome that I admire and I want that.
Right now, I am really challenged by someone in my life who has this really pure outlook about people. While I might jump to assess and categorize, this person is just curious about them and is so free of judgment. The things I notice, they don’t really spend any time on; I am convicted. Why are they like that? I want that.
I am also challenged by someone who has been a leader in the faith for well over 30 years now and isn’t moaning, curled up in a ball. Quite the opposite. He still has vision and passion and conviction; he still “sees it” and is still living it and moving through it. What has given him such staying power? I want that.
I want a certain outcome; as much as some people’s lives stand out as a warning, I am turning to see those whose lives point to a better way. I am going to make lots of mistakes, even as I have a desired outcome, I just don’t want to wreck the whole thing by mindless living.
To consider something is to think about it, with the intention of taking some action. When we consider the lives of those who are leading, when we think of qualities we want to imitate and grow in, it means watching and then it means taking initiative; we don’t wait for someone to do it for us or plan a program around it. We become like the persistent neighbor in Scripture, going after the outcome we want and not giving up right away:
“Imagine what would happen if you went to a friend in the middle of the night and said, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread. An old friend traveling through just showed up, and I don’t have a thing on hand.’ The friend answers from his bed, ‘Don’t bother me. The door’s locked; my children are all down for the night; I can’t get up to give you anything.’ But let me tell you, even if he won’t get up because he’s a friend, if you stand your ground, knocking and waking all the neighbors, he’ll finally get up and get you whatever you need. Here’s what I’m saying: Ask and you’ll get; Seek and you’ll find; Knock and the door will open.” (from The Message, a paraphrase of Luke 11:5–9)
– Teresa Klassen (http://www.onebrownleaf.wordpress.com)
Read MoreConsider The Blameless
July 26, 2010
Part Two of “Consider This.”
I woke up this morning, thinking about things I admire in people and that lends itself well to this morning’s musings. A short list of things I have observed in people and admire:
- I admire graciousness
* I admire mercy
* I admire simple courtesy
* I admire a person who can both serve others and still hold their own
* I admire people who choose joy and live joyfully
* I admire sacrifice
* I admire people who make right but difficult choices
* I admire loyalty
* I admire people who conquer something (their own personal Mt. Everest)
* I admire people who extend themselves to others (hospitality)
* I admire people who love and serve God without the jargon
* I admire creativity and creative approaches to things
* I admire people who are not easily annoyed and can smile at inconvenience and people’s little mistakes
Not a complete list, but when I see these things in action, something in me perks up and takes notice. What is it about that person? Why are they the way they are and how did they get there? How did they abandon a more selfish approach to life so that this quality comes so naturally to them?
I don’t want to compare myself to these kinds of people in an envious kind of way, although sometimes I do envy. Sometimes I am frustrated with myself and when it seems the thing I desire is so hard to attain I wish I was more like them. But that is on a self-pity day. On a good day I do compare myself to them in an evaluative way and with a sense of desire that I might also grow, knowing they are steps ahead of me.
There is a healthy approach to considering the lives of others. Psalm 37:37 says,
“Consider the blameless, observe the upright; there is a future for the man of peace” (NIV).
Put another way, “Take note of the one who has integrity! Observe the godly. For the one who promotes peace has a future.”
This passage is saying don’t just glance at a person worth admiring; take a good hard look at their life; ask questions. What do they have that you want; try to figure out what allows them to be that way. Why are they leading an admirable life? What has shaped their morals and values? Why are they able to have healthy relationships? Why are they content? What is going on between them and God? Why are they peaceful? Look intently at this.
Isn’t it interesting that the Bible chooses to say that we ought to pay special attention to those who promote peace? That’s worth asking yourself a few questions over.
I think the Bible would say, don’t just search others, let yourself be searched. Psalm 139 is an invitation to God to come and run an analysis. The beautiful thing about this, from my experience, is that the Holy Spirit doesn’t check you out and leave you with a 100 things you might consider changing. His ways are loving and His timing is perfect and He usually points out the one thing He knows you are ready and able to work on.
Once we know, once we have in our hand a little piece of helpful information, we would be wise to implement those things because that person has a future and so will you; that person’s life will be memorable and so will yours.
Generally, I don’t think people do a very good job of this. There is a difference between being curious about a person’s life and taking that curiosity to another level where you actually make a mental note of something you have heard and have admired; there is another level still where you take that note out and meditate on that thing, juice it, so to speak.
How many times have I written something down and not gone back to it? It is like the grocery list I keep leaving at home on the counter; what good does it do me there?
There are some things I want to leave behind and there are some things I really want to pursue. I really hope that some of these things I will figure out before I am 80, leaving room for things I have not yet thought of. I hope I do change along the way; I hope I really am “more” the person God has designed me to be and not stuck with being stuck.
Who is future me?
—Teresa Klassen (http://onebrownleaf.wordpress.com)
Read MoreConsider This: The Generations Long Past
July 24, 2010
Consider This: Part One
One of my favorite family stories is of my Great Grandfather, Abraham Harder. From the time he was young, he had felt a calling from God to establish an orphanage in Russia. He had a heart for children who didn’t “belong” anywhere and were being passed from home to home during a very difficult period of time in that country, the early 1900s. On the pages of our family memoir (from a self-published book titled “Portraits of the Past”) a little of their story is told,
“In 1906 they purchased some property which included a large house, barn and granary, a garden and some land. Later, a large modern school building was added along with a boys dormitory. Eventually they also purchased another farm for the purpose of training older boys farming, gardening, and shop skills. This was a faith venture! They trusted God for the money needed and for the food. The number of orphans grew from year to year until it reached 80 children, during 1921–22″ (18).
Life was so difficult for them. They walked through a severe famine and were, a times, on the brink of starvation; but God always provided for them, just when they needed it most.
The new revolutionary government began noticing the orphanage and forbade my Great Grandparents from teaching “religious instruction” and ordered a communist curriculum. My Great Grandparents refused to comply. So, in 1922 they were told to leave the orphanage and to take only their personal belongings.
I have heard this story many times now and the part that catches me every time is the ending: on the school building, Abraham fastened the word “Ebenezer,” which means “thus far has the Lord helped us.” It is from 1 Samuel 7:12 in the Bible. It was written in large letters, set in concrete, and “When the government took possession of the building, the letters were removed. Yet, in spite of this, the word could still be read, for the letters had been pressed into the concrete” (20).
I love that line. I love that the communists tried to wipe God out of that place but could not, because God was in the very concrete. They would have to actually demolish the buildings (which they eventually did) to hide the truth that God was with Abraham’s family and all those children; and even then they could not because God was in the foundation of their lives and the truth has lived on for generations now.
When I consider the generations long past, even just the ones in my direct lineage, that story continues to speak to me. Has there ever been a time when God has not walked with us? Thus far, no.
My Great Grandfather knew something about conviction and his story can not be told without that character trait. The truth of this, mentors me. I think this is what Deuteronomy is pointing to when it calls us to consider the generations long past; it is the call to glean the lessons of those who came before us for the purpose of mentorship. What did they do right? What did they do wrong? Everything is a teacher; every story becomes a guide for our own footsteps.
Job 8:8 goes further and says
It has a bit of a dig to it, doesn’t it? Essentially it is saying, “You’re just a kid; what do you know?” I don’t like being told, “You really have a lot to learn,” and yet that is exactly what this verse is saying. My tendency is to want to prove that I am all grown up; this verse is saying I am a long way off from that.
The problem is, the mantra of our generation is “don’t look back.” We are about advancement. We are about the next thing. We are about the new and the innovative. We definitely don’t want to be told the same story twice. The Bible takes a completely different approach. The Bible is about slowing down, not speeding up. God laughs at our latest time-saving-life-altering gizmos,
The Bible calls us to pause, look back and remember. There really are lessons that stand the test of time and we ought to know those things and let them warn us, guide us, comfort us, and compel us.
Who should I be looking to?
-The lives of the authors and characters contained in the Bible. Learning from the people described in the Bible is like winning the wisdom lottery. There are 66 books loaded with stories of criminals and heroes; love and hate; faithfulness and waywardness; happy endings and horrible endings. I get the inside scoop of what went right and what went wrong and I get to walk away with the lesson and apply it to my own life.
– The lives of my own family members. Some of who I am has been shaped by where I have come from. Where have I come from? What was important to the people one, two, three generations before me? Who was noble, who was not? Who can I admire, who do I definitely not want to be like? How have they handled the big questions of life and death and family and faith?
– The “others.” Whether you find it in a great memoir, or in a conversation with a stranger, we ought to see ourselves as “gleaners,” always looking for the “moral of the story” in the stories we hear.
This whole process though, requires something of me. I need to step out of my self-contained life and want to consider what there is to learn from generations long past:
1. By being open
Am I open? Or am I a know-it-all? If I don’t think I have anything to learn from someone older than I (living or not) then I will get exactly that: nothing. But if I believe that someone else has something to say to me (this requires humility), I am well on my way.
2. By being grateful
If I am living in a world that I believe is of my own making then I shouldn’t even try to learn something from the generations long past. But if I believe I am indebted to the past, then I will approach this process of listening and learning with a spirit of gratitude, knowing I am building my life on the backs of others.
3. By being patient
I am so impatient. I have realized that the internet has done something to me: it has made me a “scanner.” When I am looking for information, I am looking for a summary of everything. I want whatever it is to get to the point. But learning from those who have walked before us is a slow brew. We need to let it be that. One of my pet-peeves at funerals is when a person’s life is summarized with 10 quick facts. How can that be? That person lived for 80 years and all we can say is where they came from, who they married, how many kids they had and a little about their profession? Tell me their life lessons; no one’s story is ordinary, so tell me what made them unique. I want to know. Again, can’t we sit a while and talk?
5. By asking
People have things to say, but no one asks. How many opportunities have you had to tell your story thus far? I need to learn the art of asking questions because, logically, it’s the only way I will get answers. Don’t just wonder about things in your head; ask.
What is a lesson I walk away with from my Great Grandfathers story? It’s this: would I have words that I would stamp into the concrete? When I leave the building, what’s there that wouldn’t easily be erased? I have my own verse, in keeping with my Grandfather’s convictions, and it has kept me clear for many years now:
I hope I do this; I hope this is the thing that outlives me.
What have you learned from considering the generations long past? I would love it if you would join the discussion and leave a comment in the box below…
– Teresa Klassen (http://onebrownleaf.wordpress.com)
Read MoreLatest News
-
Date Posted: May 18 2012 by Erin MacIntosh
-
Date Posted: May 17 2012 by Brian Hawkins
-
Date Posted: May 16 2012 by Kyle Dyck
-
Date Posted: May 15 2012 by Alecia Klassen