11/03/2025
The Wisdom of Proverbs
On my news feed this morning, I see people on the right arguing over how conservative a certain candidate is.
It’s nothing more than backbiting, and these same people wonder why they can’t win an election.
When I ran for office in 2008, I experienced the wrath of the RINO label. RINO stands for Republican In Name Only.
Here we are in 2025, and the same arguments fracture the right.
Folks on the left and right have become too picky.
They want someone who thinks as they think they should think, which means someone who thinks like them, not someone who thinks outside the box or for themselves.
It’s follow the team mentality or get off the field.
In the case of Republicans in Oregon, it seems to me they keep chasing so many people off the field, their team roster is pretty thin.
Party people, not regular folks, get hung up on certain issues and lose track of winning.
I remember when I was stumping for Secretary of State, I’d make my statement, and as soon as I stopped, my “supporters” would attack me with questions.
These weren’t questions of clarification but statements, but questions trying to corner me so they would determine whether I was a RINO.
If my ideas didn’t line up, I was a terrible candidate.
It gets really old, and I see it already starting to happen in Oregon, again.
I cracked open my Bible to Proverbs.
I have a love-hate relationship with this book in the Bible,
Wisdom, unfortunately, has a way of inspiring but also calling out your bu****it.
Let me offer a few and let you feed on them a bit.
He who rejoices in calamity does not go unpunished.
Whoever rewards evil for good, evil does not leave his house.
It is not good to show partiality to the wrong, or to turn aside the righteous in right-ruling.
A fool does not delight in understanding.
He who declares the wrong right, and he who condemns the righteous, both of them are an abomination to God.
The highway of the straight is to turn away from evil. He who guards his life watches over his way.
Before destruction comes pride.
Oh, and here’s one just for fun.
Grey hair is a crowning adornment; it is found in the way of the righteous.
Does that mean God is against “For Men Only” haircolor?
Please laugh at that one, it’s a joke.
You can pick and choose from the list above and see that our culture is in big trouble.
If we’re honest, we can probably see a little of ourselves in a few of these Proverbs and understand we each need some correction.
But if you only see others as you read the list above, you may be the fool proverbs speak of, and that would make you the real problem.
Could you let up a little?
Stop nitpicking those who put their lives forward to serve in the public square.
You don’t have to agree with everything they believe, but they are putting themselves out there, which is more than you are doing.
I’m not sure this is a proverb, but the words “Put up or shut up” come to mind right now.
Stop eating your young.
