Hebrew Wisdom Literature ... Proverbs 8:1 - 9:18

June 24-30 ... Week 3 of 9

Proverbs 8:1 - 9:18

This exploration of Hebrew Wisdom Literature lists fewer and shorter biblical passages than we're used to reading with the Lectio program. In general, I recommend starting each week reading Dr. Steele's commentary - consider it a Bible class with selected readings as extra homework.

Because you probably have the bandwidth to read more than what is listed each week, feel free to explore more of the biblical text around the listed readings. Also, try reading them repeatedly during the week:

• Daily - Read these same passages over again each day and see what new things you discover with successive readings.
• Slowly - Follow a Lectio Divina approach and listen for God's word to you as you slowly read the passages over and over again.
• Memorize - Early each week, read the passages, then decide which verses you will read over and over again in order to commit them to memory.

The focus of my lectio blog during this summer season will be to highlight aspects of Dr. Steele's commentary (see links to the right) and to invite North Creek members and friends into online discussion on the Lectio website.

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www.spu.edu/lectio

An Optimistic Attitude

What's your take on optimism?  When you look at life, is the glass half-full or half-empty?  What impact does your Christian faith have on your optimism?  In what ways does Christian belief nurture optimism?  In what ways does it challenge an optimistic outlook?

Dr. Steele provides a footnote to a clip from a song in the movie musical South Pacific.  The song is "Cockeyed Optimist," and he claims that while the sages of the biblical wisdom literature could be considered optimists, they weren't "cockeyed" or possessors of "Pollyanna sentimentality."

How do you relate to the issue being addressed in this song?  If you know the plot of South Pacific, consider the elements of the plot and characters that affirm optimism about human beings (friendship, self-sacrifice, etc.), and those elements and characters that challenge an optimistic outlook (war, racism, etc.).

South Pacific – Cockeyed Optimist
http://youtu.be/p0DusO6ipLw






Excerpt from Dr. Steele's commentary:

“We can immediately see that the prudentialism of the early sages is grounded in their profoundly ‘optimistic’ attitude toward life. But it’s important to unpack what we mean by ‘optimism’ here — and what we don’t mean by it. The optimism of the sages was theological and ethical. It was a function of their deep faith in a sovereign and righteous God who has revealed what he expects of us and has promised to reward our best efforts to comply with his expectations…

…The optimism of the Israelite sages must therefore not be confused with “Pollyanna” sentimentality or utopian idealism. The sages did not suppose that all people were basically good and that things always worked out for the best. People must become good — or else! And becoming good takes a lot more time and effort than many people are willing to invest. So the stakes are high and the consequences of failure are potentially dire.

Nor did the sages imagine that human beings possessed, or ever would possess, the know-how to build a heaven on earth. So, while the sages were optimists, they were not “cockeyed optimists” [Author’s Note 2]. They believed in God — not in humanity, and not in good luck. True, the God in whom they believed was intimately involved in human affairs, and could be trusted to do his part in keeping the world running properly, if people would only do theirs.”

 

 

Pastor Kurt Helmcke