April 27, 2020

Carol sent the following Old Farmer’s Advice. This real life wisdom sounds a whole lot like Solomon’s teaching in Proverbs. My favorite one is the very last. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

An Old Farmer’s Advice:

• Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight, and bull-strong.
• Keep skunks and bankers and lawyers at a distance.
• Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
• A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.
• Words that soak into your ears are whispered…not yelled.
• Meanness don’t jes’ happen overnight.
• Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.
• Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.
• It don’t take a very big person to carry a grudge.
• You cannot unsay a cruel word.
• Every path has a few puddles.
• When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
• The best sermons are lived, not preached. (Well, maybe you are the exception!)
• Most of the stuff people worry about ain’t never gonna happen, anyway.
• Don’t judge folks by their relatives.
• Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
• Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll enjoy it a second time.
• Don’t interfere with somethin’ that ain’t botherin’ you none.
• Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.
• If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin’.
• Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.
• The biggest troublemaker you’ll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin”
• Always drink upstream from the herd.
• Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.
• Lettin’ the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin’ it back in.
• If you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some influence, try orderin’ somebody else’s dog around.
• Live simply Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.
  *Leave the rest to God.

Solomon said, “How much better to get wisdom than gold, to get insight rather than silver!” (Proverbs 16:16)

The greatest prayer I have ever heard on wisdom is said in Alcoholics Anonymous meetings throughout the world. It is called the Serenity Prayer. While most of us are familiar with the first sentence of the prayer, I have included it in its entirety so you can see the beautiful words that God inspired Reinhold Niebuhr to write.

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
forever in the next.
Amen.

As you begin a new day, ask God to help you make wise decisions.

I pray your day is filled with joy and laughter.
Tom Robbins