Of Proverbs Fand Penguins and Petty Cash Funds (or) The Hidden Relationship between Wisdom and Woodworking

First of all let me just say that this article really has nothing to do at all with petty cash funds. In fact, aside from the faulty though aurally aesthetic title and this brief notice I do not mention petty cash funds at all. My apologies if I have disappointed you.

Second, this article really does not have anything to do with penguins either. I do plan on using the word "gray" at some point, which is plausibly the color you would get if you put a penguin in a blender, but that is really just too gross to think about so I'll just move right along.

Thirdly, I just wanted to mention that I'm a woodworker. I've been carving or crafting wood in one way or another since I was about nine years old. My favorite things to carve are little songbirds, like chickadees. I also like making rustic furniture. And that is really all I'm going to say about that. However, believe it or not, this actually does prove important later on. So remember: I like to make things. Out of wood. (And other things as well but that is really beside the point.)

Finally, I suppose, I'll begin. Wisdom has always intrigued me. I've sought it for most of my life. Probably goes back to when I was a child, my mother forced me to read Proverbs everyday.

"Did you read your Proverbs yet?" She would ask.

"No." I would say.

"Then go do it." She would respond. It bothered me at the time, I was usually busy playing with Lego's or something, but it caused me to develop a certain fondness for the writings of Solomon, and the writings of other wise but not-quite-as-wise-as-Solomon type men throughout history.

Recently though, I discovered something that has changed my whole view of wisdom. For a long time I saw wisdom as a thing that was as much of a curse as it was a blessing. I'll call it my "ecclesiastesian phase", a phase in which I came to agree with Solomon that everything is more or less pointless, a "chasing after the wind", and this, in turn, I found quite depressing. Therefore, I erroneously concluded that wisdom is a dangerous thing to study, because it leads to depression, hopelessness, and despair; how much better it would be, I thought, to live in blissful ignorance, neither knowing nor seeing the evils, the stupidity, the ugliness of this world which wisdom had now revealed to me.

In the end of Ecclesiastes Solomon wrote, "Éhere is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man."

"And that is a great thing to say," I said, "but it does not tell me what I should study in school. It does not tell me whom I should marry. It does not tell me what I should do for a career. It does not tell me how to add meaning, value, or direction to my life."

What good is wisdom then if it cannot give me answers and guidance? I wrote once in a song, "losing is bad, so they say; if I make a mistake, it'll wreck my day." I wanted wisdom to make me perfect. I wanted wisdom so I would not make any more mistakes, so I would not make another bad decision, so I would not ever somehow inadvertently thwart whatever plan God had for my life.

But I have since come to the conclusion that this is not necessarily what wisdom is for. And the reason why is this thing I've discoveredÑa hidden relationship between wisdom and woodworking. (Remember: I like to make things!)

Proverbs begins like this: "The Proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: To learn wisdom..." Now the Hebrew word for wisdom is transliterated "khokhmah", which is, to me, quite unpronounceable. But what I found so interesting is that it is the same word used in Exodus 31:6 & 35:26 to describe the skill of craftsman. It is the same word used in 1 Kings 3:28 to describe the judgments of a king. It is the same word used in the Psalm 107:27 to describe the ability of sailors. As the note in my NET Bible (available online at www.bible.org) puts it, the word refers to skill that "produces something of value."

Therefore, just like I've spent many hours developing a skill to create items of value out of wood, so the Proverbs are saying that by studying wisdom I will develop the skill to create something of value out of my life. And this I find comforting, for now I have a gauge by which to judge direction, a guide to lead me through those foggiest of gray areas. I simply ask myself, "Will this thing or this path develop something of value in my life?" Because if it does not, what good is it?

While it is true that I still find it difficult to give up video games, which by and large produce absolutely nothing of value in my life at all, I have found that I can justify eating dark chocolate, because apparently it's good for your heart. But more importantly, though I still don't necessarily have many of the answers I seek, nor a very clear picture of the path I am to take in this life, nor seem to be making any fewer mistakes, still I continue studying and seeking wisdom. Because at heart I am a craftsman, and I like to make things.

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