A Proverb a Day:3 Oh, Those Sons...
"A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son brings grief to his mother."
My first thought on reading this is how I want to hear my Father say, "Well done good and faithful servant."
But that's too simplistic. Here's a pop-psych reading of this: men draw their identity from what they do, women from who they know (heh, yeah, life is just that simple, of course). So, a wise son will bring joy to his father because the father will say "I have done well in raising this boy." The foolish son brings grief to his mother because she will say, "Our relationship failed, therefore I am a failure..."
The truth? Well, as I see it (and that's where the potential heresy comes in, doesn't it?) is that a wise child will be a joy to both parents and both parents will grieve over the foolish choices of their children. It's poetry, people.
I think about the foolish choices that I made as a kid - whipping apples at cars (an artform where I grew up - we would cut our own "whipping sticks" and everything), climbing really high trees, jumping off roofs, shoplifting, fighting with my parents, my sister... Tons of really stupid choices that I've made... And my parents had occasion to say, "I'm so disappointed that you did that." (and, because they weren't perfect, a time or two said, "I'm so dissapointed in you." which has whole OTHER connotations) - and sometimes causing myself harm and my parents grief...
But I think my mom is proud of me. My dad died 17 years ago, but I think he would be proud of me. When I first talked about going into the ministry, my dad (who almost never went to church but his best friends were always pastors - maybe for another post) said to me, "There is no more honorable profession than being a pastor." And he meant it. I think he would be proud - joy-filled, as Solomon might have written...
I look at some of the kids I know and I wonder about the grief they cause their parents. Where did the breakdown occur? I mean, especially if we're talking about drugs, alcoholism, promiscuity... When your 16-year-old daughter stays out all night and doesn't tell you where she's been... well, I guess I can see where the breakdown IS - but where did it start? Everybody is somebody's little baby girl or boy...
So I can't help but think of my little girls - 3 and 5 years old. They'll make mistakes. They'll cause us grief of one type or another... I hope that we can pass on wisdom so that they'll choose that path and not foolishness. As a note, Rachel already amazes me with what she knows about love, God and forgiveness... I hope I will always bring joy to our Father...
My first thought on reading this is how I want to hear my Father say, "Well done good and faithful servant."
But that's too simplistic. Here's a pop-psych reading of this: men draw their identity from what they do, women from who they know (heh, yeah, life is just that simple, of course). So, a wise son will bring joy to his father because the father will say "I have done well in raising this boy." The foolish son brings grief to his mother because she will say, "Our relationship failed, therefore I am a failure..."
The truth? Well, as I see it (and that's where the potential heresy comes in, doesn't it?) is that a wise child will be a joy to both parents and both parents will grieve over the foolish choices of their children. It's poetry, people.
I think about the foolish choices that I made as a kid - whipping apples at cars (an artform where I grew up - we would cut our own "whipping sticks" and everything), climbing really high trees, jumping off roofs, shoplifting, fighting with my parents, my sister... Tons of really stupid choices that I've made... And my parents had occasion to say, "I'm so disappointed that you did that." (and, because they weren't perfect, a time or two said, "I'm so dissapointed in you." which has whole OTHER connotations) - and sometimes causing myself harm and my parents grief...
But I think my mom is proud of me. My dad died 17 years ago, but I think he would be proud of me. When I first talked about going into the ministry, my dad (who almost never went to church but his best friends were always pastors - maybe for another post) said to me, "There is no more honorable profession than being a pastor." And he meant it. I think he would be proud - joy-filled, as Solomon might have written...
I look at some of the kids I know and I wonder about the grief they cause their parents. Where did the breakdown occur? I mean, especially if we're talking about drugs, alcoholism, promiscuity... When your 16-year-old daughter stays out all night and doesn't tell you where she's been... well, I guess I can see where the breakdown IS - but where did it start? Everybody is somebody's little baby girl or boy...
So I can't help but think of my little girls - 3 and 5 years old. They'll make mistakes. They'll cause us grief of one type or another... I hope that we can pass on wisdom so that they'll choose that path and not foolishness. As a note, Rachel already amazes me with what she knows about love, God and forgiveness... I hope I will always bring joy to our Father...
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