Father and Son

I love smart people.

It's the first thing I notice about a person.
Is he or she smart?
Not, is he or she nice to look at.
Not, is he or she kind.
But, is he smart? Is she smart?

The computer guy was here the other day and how do I describe
him to Phil? "You could tell he was smart."
I guess being smart was a family value growing up.

I grew up free from the need to be beautiful
because I just wasn't.
No one said, "Oh, Annette. You are so beautiful."
And I am glad that I was free from that burden.

But it was important to get very good grades.
And it was important to remember who I was
and to behave accordingly.

I never felt that I was as smart as anyone else in our family.
You should see how smart my siblings are.
I said something to my mother sometime during this past year
when I was with her.
I said, "I never thought I was as smart as my siblings."
She made a little sound and said,
"I never noticed the difference."
Her words filled my smart tank.
She has no idea!
Well, actually, she probably does now.

Anyway, I had no intention of going off about myself like that.
I really wanted to compare two different writings of a father and son.

I was reading Solomon's words recorded in Eccl. 1:17,18-
"And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly.
I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind.
For in much wisdom is much grief,
And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow."

(I thought of Christ's words that He would like us to be
ignorant of evil but knowledgeable of the truth.
Something like that.
Harmless as doves. Wise as serpents.)

If only Solomon had not set his heart to know madness and folly.
If only he had stuck with wisdom.

And then there is David, Solomon's father.
He wrote one of my favorite Psalms.
I read it when life is overwhelming
and I have gotten caught up with the madness
and folly that comes from too much knowledge.

Psalms 131~
Read it and rest.

"LORD, my heart is not haughty,
Nor my eyes lofty.
Neither do I concern myself with great matters,
Nor with things too profound for me.
Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul,
Like a weaned child with his mother;
Like a weaned child is my soul within me.
Oh Israel, hope in the LORD
From this time forth and forever."

Be responsible for the knowledge you have
that you are responsible for.
But don't be responsible for the knowledge you have
for which you are not responsible.

Do not concern yourself with great matters,
nor with things that are beyond you.

Calm and quiet your soul
like a contented child on its mother's lap.

And hope in the Lord.
Don't put your trust in your own understanding of things.
Hope in the Lord
and trust in Him forever.