Bricks of Wisdom

“Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established:” (Pr 24:3 AV)

The older I get the more I appreciate the wisdom of my father.  At the time, it was difficult to accept.  But raising three sons I learned to appreciate and incorporate many of the methods and lessons learned in childhood.  My father was not perfect in all that he did.  No father is.  There were things I did differently with my sons than what I experienced.  But looking back, there were many priceless lessons learned from a father who had wisdom.

My Dad had a world-view bigger than most.  Having been an exchange student to France, he learned at a young age to be independent and appreciate the world as smaller than one at first imagines.  He was drafted during the Korean conflict but served, per agreement with a major corporation and the army, to serve as a staff mathematician on a historical weapons project.  He was part of a team that constructed a arsenal that changed the course of history.  His part may have been relatively small, but he saw the larger picture.  He grew up in the Boy Scouts and with his own sons and daughters, scouting because a major part of our lives.  Coupled with playing special music in church, my father drilled into our heads that life is about service.  Hard work in the form of paper routes, recycling, and teenage jobs were the way my father kept us out of trouble.  These lessons of life is what formed what and what we are today.  Myself and my siblings all have gone down that trajectory which my father set many years ago.  A lot of wisdom, understanding, and discipline were his principles.  We were not always successful. Some of us made major mistakes in life.  As we all do.  But the wisdom my father exercised has carried us even through those rough spots.

Many churches are not built on principle.  They are built on pragmatism.  I’ll give you an example.  My father had 11 children.  If all he was after was to have all 11 children come to dinner at five o’clock sharp without being asked, he would have to have ice cream and Pepsi for dinner.  On the other hand, if he was after our well being and health, there would be meat and vegetables.  Pragmatism does what works in the short term.  Principle does what is right for eternity.  Pragmatism is interested in immediate results.  Principle is interested in lasting results.  Wisdom is the missing key!