I still have plenty of Tall Tales to write, but some of them I am not so comfortable sharing with the public at large.
So, I've just opened "My Private Tall Tales" which is restricted to those I personally invite.
If you know me and have not received an invite, feel free to send me an email.
Here is the link for easy access for those invited: My Private Tall Tales
You will be required to sign in to gain access to these Private Tall Tales... Sorry. It should all be Kosher on Blogger.
Hopefully these will be as entertaining and enjoyable as the ones I have already posted.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
A Cause of Strife
It seems like yesterday, but it was years ago during the 1990's that we lived in a house trailer that had defective plumbing. The pipes under the trailer were easily prone to spring leaks. I was capable of fixing the leaks, but needless to say it was almost always a hassle to climb underneath and tackle the task.
Once we had a leak that coincided with my work schedule preventing me from getting to its repair as quickly as I would have liked. This was a leak we could live with until I managed to get a round to it. However, my wife trying to be helpful contacted a neighbor without telling me and arranged for him to repair my leak. When I arrived home from work she told me what she had done.
This flew all over me. I am not opposed to accepting help when I really need it, but if it is something that I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself; I feel like I am abusing my friendship if I impose on someone else to take care of it out of charity without pay. That is exactly what my wife arranged. My friend and neighbor had not done the repair yet, but he was scheduled. This put me into a sour mood.
My wife likes for me to put on a facade as if all is okay when it is not. My personality rarely if ever allows me to do that. I needed to rest for my next shift that required a fresh pilot instead of tackling the leak before I was ready which would most likely be during my days off. So, I headed to our bedroom to chill out alone. I laid on my bed and prayed and stewed trying to figure out how I could resolve this situation my wife presumptuously caused thinking she was helping me by imposing on my neighbor. I also was interested in why this little seemingly innocent incident had placed me into such a sour mood.
My wife looked at me in disgust and told me I should get over it, but I was covered in a foul mood that I could not shake.
Finally I picked up my Bible and opened it to read hoping I could find some relief. It opened to Proverbs chapter 13 where my eyes were drawn to verse 10 and I read: "Through presumption comes nothing but strife, But with those who receive counsel is wisdom." Wow! right before my eyes God clearly showed me the dynamics behind the sour mood I had found myself in.
My dictionary defines strife as a noun whose meaning is: angry or bitter disagreement over fundamental issues; conflict.
My sour mood definitely involved strife over what my wife had done though she was only innocently attempting to be helpful.
My dictionary also defines presumption as a noun. It has several more definitions than strife among one is: "• an idea that is taken to be true, and often used as the basis for other ideas, although it is not known for certain"
My wife recognized that our plumbing needed fixing although it was minor in this case since the leak had not completely shutdown our ability to use the system. She also recognized that I was busy and couldn't get to the problem until my off shift. This situation also gave her the idea that getting someone else to fix the problem would be beneficial and helpful to me. Of course she presumed this since it was not known for certain since she had not run it by me prior to setting the steps of acquiring help from someone else in place.
Interestingly my dictionary also defines presumption as: "2 behavior perceived as arrogant, disrespectful, and transgressing the limits of what is permitted or appropriate". As mentioned above I am not opposed to receiving help when it is truly necessary, but I was somewhat perturbed at imposing upon a neighbor to do something I was fully capable of doing myself. If only my wife had counseled with me prior to setting her plan in motion my sense of umbrage would not have been piqued.
Now that proverbs 13:10 revealed to me what had happened helping me to understand my dour feelings, a much better mood came upon me and I was able to call my neighbor and tell him though I appreciated his willingness to help this was a job that I could easily do myself once I got around to it. I was also able to share with my wife the dynamics behind what had confronted us and what I clearly now saw was behind my sour mood.
God is so amazing!
BOOM! I shared this little tale most recently at a small bible study I attend. Then we went looking for the particular scripture involved. It could not be found. In Promise Keepers & a lesson learned we found what a difference a translation may make. Though I favor the NASB, I sometimes read different translations just to see if God might have something new to show me. I personally believe if your heart is sincere God will use whatever translation is available to you, though I have found both strengths and weaknesses in different translations. It would be nice to know Greek and Hebrew, but I don't.
I am currently reading the "New Living Translation" which renders Proverbs 13:10 as "Pride leads to conflict; those who take advice are wise." Not quite the dynamics of what I felt I had experienced. When I got home I checked my current NASB "Through insolence comes nothing but strife, But wisdom is with those who receive counsel." Hmmm? Again not quite what I remember. A look at the definition of insolence lead to impertinence which had the word meddlesome and presumptuous. Getting close, but it didn't relay it quite like I remember. Next I pulled out my New King James version where I found: "By pride comes nothing but strife, But with the well-advised is wisdom." Okay, I give up! But wait; not so easy...
When someone tells me of something they have read in the bible and my mind tells me I have never seen that; I ask them to personally show me. I may consider them a very reliable source, but from experience I know I may end up looking for something for ever that is not there. Have you ever looked for "Spare the rod and spoil the child"? Or looked for where Paul fell off a horse on his journey to Damascus? If you find any of those, please send me a message with scripture and verse and also what translation so I can see for myself. When I see it in print for myself, my brain registers yep, there it is! It really does exist, and it seems to file this knowledge away with confidence for what has been stated.
Did my memory fail me? I underline verses that stand out to me as I read. I call this getting your bible trained where you can easily find a verse in question so you can show someone else when needed. I also tend to give away my trained bibles when I encounter someone in need of a book. My very first bible was given to a couple of hitchhikers I had given a ride to long ago. I think I gave the one with the scripture in question to a man that had accosted me on the street who I got to share the Lord with. And, if I find I'm constantly reading stuff all underlined I get a feeling I'm not finding anything new, so I often then purchase myself a new book and begin underlining and training the new book all over again. It keeps my reading fresh. If you read the Lockman Foundations principals of translation found in the front of a NASB I believe you will find they use good logic as I have found. However, they have made some improvements in more current editions. Some I agree with and some I don't.
I recently purchased a reference NASB that is retro to one I had given away in the past. I pulled it out to look for the mystery verse. There it was just as I had originally read it: "Through presumption comes nothing but strife, But with those who receive counsel is wisdom." How amazing is that! God had provided me with the exact translation I needed when I needed it to show me what I was dealing with and provided me with the understanding I might not have received if I had any other translation available at the time.
"Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows."
Luke 12:7
A personal relationship with Jesus has revealed to me way more than once His power and the reality of His existence! Thank You Lord!
Ciao!
Once we had a leak that coincided with my work schedule preventing me from getting to its repair as quickly as I would have liked. This was a leak we could live with until I managed to get a round to it. However, my wife trying to be helpful contacted a neighbor without telling me and arranged for him to repair my leak. When I arrived home from work she told me what she had done.
This flew all over me. I am not opposed to accepting help when I really need it, but if it is something that I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself; I feel like I am abusing my friendship if I impose on someone else to take care of it out of charity without pay. That is exactly what my wife arranged. My friend and neighbor had not done the repair yet, but he was scheduled. This put me into a sour mood.
My wife likes for me to put on a facade as if all is okay when it is not. My personality rarely if ever allows me to do that. I needed to rest for my next shift that required a fresh pilot instead of tackling the leak before I was ready which would most likely be during my days off. So, I headed to our bedroom to chill out alone. I laid on my bed and prayed and stewed trying to figure out how I could resolve this situation my wife presumptuously caused thinking she was helping me by imposing on my neighbor. I also was interested in why this little seemingly innocent incident had placed me into such a sour mood.
My wife looked at me in disgust and told me I should get over it, but I was covered in a foul mood that I could not shake.
Finally I picked up my Bible and opened it to read hoping I could find some relief. It opened to Proverbs chapter 13 where my eyes were drawn to verse 10 and I read: "Through presumption comes nothing but strife, But with those who receive counsel is wisdom." Wow! right before my eyes God clearly showed me the dynamics behind the sour mood I had found myself in.
My dictionary defines strife as a noun whose meaning is: angry or bitter disagreement over fundamental issues; conflict.
My sour mood definitely involved strife over what my wife had done though she was only innocently attempting to be helpful.
My dictionary also defines presumption as a noun. It has several more definitions than strife among one is: "• an idea that is taken to be true, and often used as the basis for other ideas, although it is not known for certain"
My wife recognized that our plumbing needed fixing although it was minor in this case since the leak had not completely shutdown our ability to use the system. She also recognized that I was busy and couldn't get to the problem until my off shift. This situation also gave her the idea that getting someone else to fix the problem would be beneficial and helpful to me. Of course she presumed this since it was not known for certain since she had not run it by me prior to setting the steps of acquiring help from someone else in place.
Interestingly my dictionary also defines presumption as: "2 behavior perceived as arrogant, disrespectful, and transgressing the limits of what is permitted or appropriate". As mentioned above I am not opposed to receiving help when it is truly necessary, but I was somewhat perturbed at imposing upon a neighbor to do something I was fully capable of doing myself. If only my wife had counseled with me prior to setting her plan in motion my sense of umbrage would not have been piqued.
Now that proverbs 13:10 revealed to me what had happened helping me to understand my dour feelings, a much better mood came upon me and I was able to call my neighbor and tell him though I appreciated his willingness to help this was a job that I could easily do myself once I got around to it. I was also able to share with my wife the dynamics behind what had confronted us and what I clearly now saw was behind my sour mood.
God is so amazing!
BOOM! I shared this little tale most recently at a small bible study I attend. Then we went looking for the particular scripture involved. It could not be found. In Promise Keepers & a lesson learned we found what a difference a translation may make. Though I favor the NASB, I sometimes read different translations just to see if God might have something new to show me. I personally believe if your heart is sincere God will use whatever translation is available to you, though I have found both strengths and weaknesses in different translations. It would be nice to know Greek and Hebrew, but I don't.
I am currently reading the "New Living Translation" which renders Proverbs 13:10 as "Pride leads to conflict; those who take advice are wise." Not quite the dynamics of what I felt I had experienced. When I got home I checked my current NASB "Through insolence comes nothing but strife, But wisdom is with those who receive counsel." Hmmm? Again not quite what I remember. A look at the definition of insolence lead to impertinence which had the word meddlesome and presumptuous. Getting close, but it didn't relay it quite like I remember. Next I pulled out my New King James version where I found: "By pride comes nothing but strife, But with the well-advised is wisdom." Okay, I give up! But wait; not so easy...
When someone tells me of something they have read in the bible and my mind tells me I have never seen that; I ask them to personally show me. I may consider them a very reliable source, but from experience I know I may end up looking for something for ever that is not there. Have you ever looked for "Spare the rod and spoil the child"? Or looked for where Paul fell off a horse on his journey to Damascus? If you find any of those, please send me a message with scripture and verse and also what translation so I can see for myself. When I see it in print for myself, my brain registers yep, there it is! It really does exist, and it seems to file this knowledge away with confidence for what has been stated.
Did my memory fail me? I underline verses that stand out to me as I read. I call this getting your bible trained where you can easily find a verse in question so you can show someone else when needed. I also tend to give away my trained bibles when I encounter someone in need of a book. My very first bible was given to a couple of hitchhikers I had given a ride to long ago. I think I gave the one with the scripture in question to a man that had accosted me on the street who I got to share the Lord with. And, if I find I'm constantly reading stuff all underlined I get a feeling I'm not finding anything new, so I often then purchase myself a new book and begin underlining and training the new book all over again. It keeps my reading fresh. If you read the Lockman Foundations principals of translation found in the front of a NASB I believe you will find they use good logic as I have found. However, they have made some improvements in more current editions. Some I agree with and some I don't.
I recently purchased a reference NASB that is retro to one I had given away in the past. I pulled it out to look for the mystery verse. There it was just as I had originally read it: "Through presumption comes nothing but strife, But with those who receive counsel is wisdom." How amazing is that! God had provided me with the exact translation I needed when I needed it to show me what I was dealing with and provided me with the understanding I might not have received if I had any other translation available at the time.
"Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows."
Luke 12:7
A personal relationship with Jesus has revealed to me way more than once His power and the reality of His existence! Thank You Lord!
Ciao!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
