The ripple and splash of the water fountain in my container garden is a welcome sound in the darkness of early morning. The roar of motorcycles over in Fayetteville hasn’t yet begun. This is the weekend of the Bikes, Blues, and BBQ festival and thousands of cycles sort of overlay more fragile sounds.
My thoughts, this morning, skip here and there, like a flat rock someone skims across the pond. So much is good and right about this lovely autumn but the harsh reality of terrible things going on in our country threatens to obscure them. Such as yesterday’s atrocious act of a Muslim fanatic in Moore, Oklahoma.
And I wonder what is wrong with people who let hatred obscure reason? This morning’s Bible reading was Proverbs 3, the benefits of wisdom. Wisdom, King Solomon tell us, is better than silver and gold. The person who finds wisdom and understanding is happy and prosperous. God’s Word tells us to love each other, to live in peace. Murder, treachery, violence in whatever disguise, is stupid, wrong, an affront to nature and a sin against God.
Maybe the key lies in another proverb, chapter 9, verse 10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Disobeying God and His law is simply not very bright. The results are always bad. “Thou shalt not kill,” the Lord tells us. “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” Jesus preached love, not hatred. To hear His words, believe them, and obey–that is wisdom.
Despite the cacophony of the violent acts of godless men, the voice of God is not silenced. He is still here. His Word is timeless. It is a rock we can stand on in this time of shifting sand. If we listen, we can still hear His voice.
Mary Edna Latty’s New Testament
Amen