Tiny Devotional for RED and BLACK Friday, 11-27-2020

A great good UGA (RED and BLACK) Friday to all my friends and neighbors out there in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, GO YELLOW JACKETS!

One who blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning,
It will be considered a curse to him.
Proverbs 27:14, NASB

Startled Awake

Meditate on this verse. If you don’t see both humor and wisdom, meditate some more. 

If a proverb is funny AND wise, how do you apply it?

On a cherished spiritual-renewal retreat, it is a tradition that workers wake participants on Sunday  by parading through the sleeping areas, singing loudly. 

I am not a person who wakes up sweetly. I didn’t like the tradition when I was a participant; I didn’t like it on those occasions when I was blessed to serve as a worker. 
I murmured mild protest, until a retreat in April of 2001, when I was vociferous in my criticism of the practice. 
The leaders didn’t comprehend my objection, even after I cited this verse, but told me that I didn’t have to participate.

I woke before dawn, with a high fever,  in intense pain. Scar tissue had strangled my intestines, as it turned out, but we didn’t know that. 
At first, the leaders thought I was still objecting to the morning singing, until they took my temp.
With hands-on prayer from my friend David, my symptoms eased. I was able to finish the retreat. 
(A week later, emergency surgery fixed the strangulation.)
Those are facts; do they contain wisdom?
Today, I realized that a wise, humorous truth must be implemented with humor. It’s not a club to beat people with, or prove your virtue. 
I make no further claim linking facts with wisdom.


Peace be on your household.

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