Thinking about Proverbs

1986 saw the publication of a massive anthology edited by Wolfgang Mieder, The Prentice Hall Encyclopedia of World Proverbs.

In the 1990s, Harold Cordry produced an even larger collection, The Multicultural Dictionary of Proverbs. The subtitle reveals the scope of this work: "Over 20,000 Adages from More than 120 Languages, Nationalities and Ethnic Groups."

More recently, Jon R. Stone has added the Routledge Book of World Proverbs.

Each book is filled with thousands of proverbs coming from every corner of the earth.

The Sumerians, residents of Southern Mesopotamia, developed the first language for which we have written evidence. Among their documents, 4,000 years old, are proverbs by the hundreds.

Like many of today's proverbs, some that were circulated among the ancient Sumerians take up the question of money: Wealth is far away; poverty is close at hand.

Others address what you say and credibility: Tell a lie and then tell the truth: it will be considered a lie (reminiscent of the boy who cried "wolf!").

Evidently, not all of the Sumerian proverbs were written and remembered by men: To be sick is acceptable; to be pregnant is painful; but to be pregnant and sick is just too much.

It sounds like an exaggeration. But it's true: Throughout recorded history, and in every part of the world, people have always come up with short sayings that encapsulate the wisdom that comes from experience. Every culture at every time has had its proverbs.

Perhaps that makes it all the more remarkable that in ancient Israel, a certain collection of these kinds of sayings came to be recognized as holy Scripture, the biblical Book of Proverbs.

Soon, I'm supposed to give a short introduction to the Book of Proverbs. Got any suggestions? Ideas?

Spring Break and Beyond

Last week was Spring Break for most schools around here, including the college. So, of course, we had planned to sell the house in Connecticut and buy the house in Texas during that week. While younger, less responsible people were out doing more-fun, less-responsible things, we would sit around signing documents we didn't understand.

But you know how it goes sometimes with excellent plans. Turns out we have a "buyer" who, for maybe-good reasons, isn't buying; or at least not yet. So, for the last several days, when I wasnt' talking to attorneys, real estate agents, and mortgage brokers, I've had to spend a lot of my time just meditating on "This too shall pass."

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Classes started again yesterday. So I was introducing Romans (at 9 a.m.) and then Psalms and Proverbs (at 10:30). When we came to the Proverbs, we talked about how the very nature of those little gems just doesn't leave room for the real complexity of life. As a result, two proverbs that are true enough might contradict one another. "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" and "Out of sight, out of mind."

Interestingly enough, the Book of Proverbs seems to announce this caveat implicitly in 26:4-5. . . . "Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself" and "Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes."

Got a favorite proverb?

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The Saturday edition of the "Amarillo Globe-News" includes a complete section called "Faith." Last week's issue included a story about a preacher who stages professional wrestling matches between good and evil characters. The piece included a photo of said preacher flying off the ropes ready to land on some poor guy dressed up in a devil costume, horns and all.

I still say the writer's of "The Simpsons" are more like chroniclers. I also say that preachers who want to preach like the great prophets, including the greatest one, will at least occasionally use a prop. I regret that I haven't done more of that myself. When did we decide that even though Jesus used things like coins to get his point across, all we ever needed was words?

Across the page from the wrestling story was an opinion article by an elderly Methodist minister. He was blaming the steep decline of mainline Protestantism on, get this, not enough questioning. His solution centers on reading books by John Shelby Spong, Marcus Borg, and their ilk. (By the way, don't you love the word "ilk"? It sounds so "ilky"). For those who've never read them, Spong, Borg, and company are the people who, in the name of academic integrity and authentic religion, try to undermine most every major truth claim of Christianity.
Hmmm.