Three Things, Four Things

Russian Icon of King Solomon, from Wikipedia

There is a generation that curses its father,
And does not bless its mother.
There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes,
Yet is not washed from its filthiness.

There is a generation – oh, how lofty are their eyes!
And their eyelids are lifted up.
There is a generation whose teeth are like swords,
And whose fangs are like knives,
To devour the poor from off the earth,
And the needy from among men.

The leech has two daughters, Crying “Give! Give!”

There are three things that are never satisfied,
Four things never say, “It is enough”:
The grave,
The barren womb,
The earth that is not satisfied with water,
And the fire that never says, “It is enough”.

The eye that mocks his father,
And scorns obedience to his mother,
The ravens of the valley will pick it out
And the young eagles will eat it.

There are three things which are too wonderful for me,
Yes, four which I do not understand:
The way of an eagle in the air,
The way of a serpent on a rock,
The way of a ship in the midst of the sea,
And the way of a man with a maid.

This is the way of an adulterous woman:
She eats and wipes her mouth,
And says, “I have done no wickedness”.

For three things the earth is perturbed,
Yes, for four it cannot bear up:
For a servant when he reigns,
A fool when he is filled with food,
A hateful woman when she is married,
And a maidservant who succeeds her mistress.

There are four things which are little on earth,
But they are exceedingly wise:
The ants are a people not strong,
Yet they prepare their food in the summer;
The rock badgers are a feeble folk,
Yet they make their homes in the crags;
The locusts have no king,
Yet they all advance in ranks;
The spider skillfully grasps with its hands,
And it is in kings’ palaces.

There are three things which are majestic in pace,
Yes, four which are stately in walk:
A lion, which is mighty among beasts
And does not turn away from any;
A greyhound,
A male goat also,
And a king whose troops are with him.

If you have been foolish in exalting yourself,
Or if you have devised evil, put your hand on your mouth.
For as the churning of milk produces butter,
And as wringing the nose produces blood,
So the forcing of wrath produces strife.

King Solomon (attributed), Book of Proverbs (NKJV), Chapter 30 “The Wisdom of Augur”.

If you have Nothing to Say, just Shuddup.

“A wise man fears and departs from evil;
But a full rages and is self-confident.”

“Wisdom sits quietly in the heart of him who has understanding;
But what is in the heart of fools is made known.”

Proverbs

So Jordan and I were having this conversation the week before Commencement. I was telling her about my trip to Switzerland last year, with Eugene. Now, I really wanted to go and see Switzerland, legendary country which has done Everything Right and is Racially Harmonious and has Traveling Youngsters and Community Service and Nice Mountains and all that. Well, actually it was between Switzerland and Sweden, because Sweden developed Democracy over a span of 200 years with gradual accumulation and is one of the best places to live in in the world today.

So at the time, Eugene and I flipped a coin to see if we were going to Switzerland or Sweden. The lot fell on Sweden. But then we kept looking up flights and Switzerland was cheaper. So we went to Switzerland. I wasn’t sure if my mum would take kindly to me traveling alone with a guy, even though he was just a friend, so I decided I would present it as a fait accompli after the fact, so that she would a) know, and b) not worry. However, I decided to tell my dad, so at least one of them would know where I was.

Jordan said, wisely, “You know the Bible doesn’t just tell you not to say false things, right? Deception is also a sin.”

I thought about this. “You’re right. Cos lying by omission is as bad as telling a lie. It has the same effect.”

So, actually, if I had told my mother categorically, “I am not going to Switzerland,” then I would be lying. But she would believe the same thing as if I didn’t tell her I was going to Switzerland, if I was indeed going to Switzerland.

So I did lie.

Anyway, as it turns out, the first day I am in Switzerland I get a rather mysterious email from my dad that my mum “found out” that I was in Switzerland (I wonder how that happened, Dad…………) and was OK with it as long as I was safe. And for the rest of the trip I felt a lot less guilty.

In Switzerland I met a very interesting Singaporean man who had moved to the Alps. “Why the Alps?” I asked.

“Well, look outside your window. Isn’t it beautiful? I wanted to live closer to God, very close to the sky.”