Proverbs 1:7 ASV and Proverbs 1:28 ASV

Today I'll start a journey through the book of Proverbs looking for ways to do a "wisdom search" better in light of the concepts I've learned through Leadership and Self-Deception, and re-writing my own proverbs or "axioms" accordingly following Bill Hybels model.

Start with God: the only way out of the self-deception loop is to start with God. By bowing down to Him, I break the hold of my idols. To start with God is the "God Hypothesis:" start acting as if what you say you believe about God is really true. He is, and He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. He is not at a distance, watching to see if we will gain wisdom: He is at hand, with "prevenient grace," leading me to seek Him, supporting and guiding my search for Him.

Bad Companions: who you put on your team is the first task of leadership. Don't join a team that claims to "share and share alike" but is motivated by greed and violence or looking for the quick way out. Don't put someone on your team who will counsel you to violence; to act as if others are objects to be used rather than people to be respected.

Wisdom in the streets: note that Lady Wisdom is not in the academy, or in the temple. She is out in the streets, in the marketplace.

No matter how hard you look, you won't find me: once we get in the self-deception loop, we seek in vain for a "smart idea" that will get us out of trouble. Our guilt has already caused us to deliberately reject knowledge, because we are trying to block out the Fear-of-God, the awareness of His perfect judgment. Wisdom is not saying, because you didn't seek me early, you won't find me late: rather, because you have already rejected me, how could you hope to find me? This is how self-deception works: we are consciously and deliberately rejecting truth, even as we wonder why we can't seem to get a grasp on reality.

Righteousness, Justice, Equity: the right path is more than personal morality and ethics. We stop too often at righteousness. First, righteousness in the Jewish sense must include Kwan, the giving of compassionate alms to the community, being a philanthropist, making a difference in the world by giving back. Second, we must move on from tsadak to Justice: looking out for the weak and oppressed, acting against the abuse of power and corruption. Equity gives us the knowledge of how to act in difficult cases, where there is no clear precept of personal righteousness of definite law of Justice to invoke.

Let us lie in wait for blood: Jesus first teaching on the Mount is against murder. He explains that we lie in wait for blood any time that we act in anger, or contempt. This is treating people as objects. Amplified version adds this: let us ambush the innocent in order to show that "his piety is in vain." This gets to the spirit of the passage. It's not just that those without instruction in morals are willing to hurt others to get criminal gain. Oh no: they have a moral compass, we all do, and it is their very guilt that drives them, that compels them to attack the innocent. How do they know that this one is innocent? Their spirit senses this. They are guilty, and their guilt is peaked and pricked by the presence of the innocent. So they say, I will attack them and put them down; I will despoil their innocence and it will taunt me no more. Note that they then seek for allies. Why do they want to share a purse in common? Why not just attack and have more for themselves? They are seeking justification. They need others to commit sin with them, to reinforce their justification of their own wrong doing. They invite others to enter into hatred with them.

Why do the wise not fear evil? For surely suffering comes to all, and wisdom is itself no guarantee of a "happy healthy forever." But they do not fear the evil. They are quiet, self defined, built on a solid foundation. The evil is around them, but it is not in them; it has no hold on them because they are not of it.

When your dread comes: the thing you fear will happen. We create that which we fear. Then we look for answers to get away from it; but wherever we go, it is still there, because we ourselves are creating it. "The shall eat the fruit of their own way and be satisfied with their own devices." God forbid I become satisfied with my self-generated delusions! O Lord, fail not to break in on my ignorance. Let me always fear "the complacency of fools:" the willingness to stay the way I am, and not be challenged and changed by your Presence.