I Do Not Swear

"Hey you _______  ________ _______!  I've never hit anybody in anger in my whole life, but I'm gonna come down there and beat the _______  ______ out of you!"  I don't swear, so no, I didn't ever say that.  But even these few years later, I sometimes wish I had, that beautiful winter day on Hwy 57.

I was minding my own business driving home from work on the aforementioned divided highway.  After a few days of heavy snowfall it was a pleasure to just cruise along on the now dry pavement, and with the sun shining bright and warm.  Before I even saw it coming a bright red sports car passed me-- and several other cars in my lane all going about 60--like we were standing still!  I was talking to my son on the phone at the time and told him about the jerk shooting along so close to the snow bank which was still crowding the traffic lanes along both shoulders.

The guy must have just hit that berm of snow on the left, because all of a sudden a huge cloud of snow erupted not too far ahead of me.  I saw a flash of red cross the lanes between cars and then an even bigger mass of powdery snow fly up beyond the right shoulder and nearly blocking the lowering sun.  I pulled over and walked up wondering how many mangled corpses I was about to see, but here was this guy sitting between the front seats of his crumpled car, and talking on the phone!  He yelled up to me and another guy, "Hey, did I ROLL?"  Distracted by the fact that he was alive, and by his nonchalance, I looked back and saw the "tracks" his car did in fact make after it left the highway.  He certainly did roll, or bounce, or maybe he bounded and leaped as far as I know, for at least 50 yards!

Apparently he was calling his mother for a ride or a tow, or maybe to arrange a brain transplant.  I was too stunned at the moment to know what I felt, but after I left, and just a few miles up the road I began to get very angry.  That idiot might have killed himself (which might have been good for the collective gene pool), but he may have killed the other guy that stopped to help him out.  He may have killed or maimed the other folks just going home or going out to eat or going shopping.  But most importantly, he may have killed my Lily's and Danny's and Elaina's and Araya's future Grandfather to be!

I wish now that I knew who he was or where he lived so that I could go and let the SOB errant driver know how angry I am still today.







By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED. Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?

The Proverbs 31 Project: Commenting January 28th on Proverbs 28:1-4

January 28;  Proverbs 28  Verses 1-4


[Please note: The first two paragraphs below are repeated each day for new readers.  My amateur comments are offered below the verses from Proverbs.]

Christians looking for a simple way to review the Bible regularly, have long been convenienced by the fact that the book of Proverbs has 31 chapters, the same number as most of our months.  Each chapter includes multiple bite-sized verses (uhm, proverbs) and can be read through simply in one sitting, one appropriately numbered chapter per day through the month.  A person might read through the Proverbs a chapter a day during any month, but why mess with your head (reading an extra chapter on one, two, or three days!) like that when there are 7 months every year perfectly suited for the endeavor?

My idea here is to reprint about 1/7 of the verses from each day's chapter throughout this year, every time a 31 day month pops up, and then offer a few comments from The Barking Owl.  So in January, we will get through the first few verses of every chapter and then in March, the next group, and so on, until December comes around and we can finally get to the last set of verses in each chapter and complete the book's reading.  If you are smarter than I am (is there any doubt?), you will read the whole chapter every day, every 31 day month, and then you will have read the whole book 7 times this year!  By then you are guaranteed to at least be wiser than The Barking Owl , though no one will ever match the wisdom of Solomon!


[All Bible passages are from the NIV, and are copied from www.Biblegateway.com]

Proverbs 28


1 The wicked flee though no one pursues,
  but the righteous are as bold as a lion.


1) I guess I have been on both sides of this fence.  I remember that  feeling of pursued guilt.  The one that makes you so jumpy because surely somebody is just about to call you out.  It was really God (I almost typed "only God") speaking to, or perhaps only threatening, my guilty conscience with His high standard.


I also remember standing with a very angry foreman in my face.  His judgement was off base, but even as his anger rose and he began to refer to my "church going" as an epithet, and I thought "this guy is going to HIT me!", I was able to stand my ground and give him the soft answer treatment we heard about back on the 15th.


2 When a country is rebellious, it has many rulers,
   but a ruler with discernment and knowledge maintains order.


2) What an interesting take on rebellion.  I guess, now that I think about it, that bad ideas and motivations multiply.  A bunch of rebellious people seldom carefully choose a leader.  They each want to take control of the mob and it ends up going off in 10 directions at once and ultimately falls apart.  Anarchy is its own self-defeating cure.


3 A ruler who oppresses the poor
   is like a driving rain that leaves no crops.


3) Jesus said: He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  Mathew 5:45


I've always enjoyed this truth.  Sun and rain come to everyone in time.  And, sun and rain both are seen as a blessing and a curse.  It all depends.  Folks all over pray for rain when it is lacking, but mourn the devastation of a flooding downpour.  Here, in verse 3 of Proverbs 28, it's the ruin of rain that compares with a poor oppressing ruler.


4 Those who forsake instruction praise the wicked,
  but those who heed it resist them.


4) I have been shocked sometimes by the enthusiastic support given to some people.  Usually it is granted freely to obvious "fools" (to use Solomon's freedom), without thinking.  But given just a little bit of "instruction", the would-be followers say "Oh", and turn away.   Certain reps in Wisconsin were so excited to meet Ian Murphy, and pose for pictures with him because he fooled their political enemy.  Then they were "instructed" on Murphy's earlier famous writings: revealed here.

The Proverbs 31 Project: Commenting January 15th on Proverbs 15:1-5

January 15;  Proverbs 15, Verses 1-5

[Please note: The first two paragraphs below are repeated each day for new readers.  My amateur comments start below the verses from Proverbs.]

Christians looking for a simple way to review the Bible regularly, have long been convenienced by the fact that the book of Proverbs has 31 chapters, the same number as most of our months.  Each chapter includes multiple bite-sized verses (uhm, proverbs) and can be read through simply in one sitting, one appropriately numbered chapter per day through the month.  A person might read through the Proverbs a chapter a day during any month, but why mess with your head (reading an extra chapter on one, two, or three days!) like that when there are 7 months every year perfectly suited for the endeavor?

My idea here is to reprint about 1/7 of the verses from each day's chapter throughout this year, every time a 31 day month pops up, and then offer a few comments from The Barking Owl.  So in January, we will get through the first few verses of every chapter and then in March, the next group, and so on, until December comes around and we can finally get to the last set of verses in each chapter and complete the book's reading.  If you are smarter than I am (is there any doubt?), you will read the whole chapter every day, every 31 day month, and then you will have read the whole book 7 times this year!  By then you are guaranteed to at least be wiser than The Barking Owl , though no one will ever match the wisdom of Solomon!

[All Bible passages are from the NIV, and are copied from www.Biblegateway.com]

Proverbs 15

¹ A gentle answer turns away wrath,
   but a harsh word stirs up anger.

 ² The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge,
   but the mouth of the fool gushes folly.

 ³ The eyes of the LORD are everywhere,
   keeping watch on the wicked and the good.

 ⁴ The soothing tongue is a tree of life,
   but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.

 ⁵ A fool spurns a parent’s discipline,
   but whoever heeds correction shows prudence.

1) Somewhere in my writings I referred to this verse as one of the most applicable verses around.  So often we find ourselves the object of SOMEBODY'S ire.  Perhaps the clerk you bugged, or the guy you bumped, or another driver you bothered was having a horrible day and decided to let loose on you!  But if you manage to give him Solomon's old "gentle answer" routine instead of firing both barrels right back at him, you get to watch the anger just melt away!  It's like a little miracle, but you will see that Solomon knows what he's talking about.

2) The second half of this verse makes obvious sense.  We have all known people, fools, whose mouths "gush folly".  They say one stupid thing after another; or a series of profane laced sentences fills every paragraph and we get so exhausted from searching through all the ore of useless words that we can never find the nugget of truth that may have been buried within.  

But the first half of verse 2 is more interesting.  The wise tongue adorns knowledge.  Sounds like that means a person may have some knowledge to share, but it can waste away if he does not also have a "wise tongue" to bring it out in an attractive manner.  The word elucidate comes to mind.  Here are its synonyms:  explain, clarify, explicate, expound, illuminate, spell out, interpret  I have often been frustrated in an attempt to clearly 'illuminate' an idea, or an understanding I have on some subject or another verbally.  Personally, I do much better in writing my thoughts (I hope).  Too bad for me Solomon didn't say anything about 'keyboards adorning knowledge'. 

3) I am so glad that "The eyes of the LORD are everywhere".  It makes me feel good to think that nothing gets past Him because when I do what is right, and nobody notices, I know that He might be pleased with me and it pleases me to please Him.  It makes me feel good to think that nothing gets past Him because when I do something wrong, and I know it, and even if nobody else knows about it, I can share the truth of my sin with God.  And He shares the truth of His forgiveness with me. 

1 John 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

This gladness about His eyes being everywhere was only true for me AFTER I became a Christian.  Before, I preferred to hide with my sin.  Now I have found that being "in Christ" is better than being "in sin".

4) The contrast here is between a soothing tongue and a perverse tongue.  Do these seem like the opposites of each other to you?  I would think soothing/severe, or soothing/inciteful; and maybe correct/perverse, or rational/perverse.  But we should go with the wisest man in the world and try to see what he is getting at.  

I think he started with the two modes of living and worked backwards to the source of those life conditions.  In what kind of soil does the 'tree of life' prosper?  A soil rich with soothing words.  From parents who speak with love, and in peace.  Where strains of joy and a fruitful vocabulary abound.  And what is it that 'crushes a spirit'?   A perverse tongue.  Parents who are insulting and degrading.  Being surrounded by the words of abuse, hateful tones, angry blasts and unfair rants.  Profane and graphic imagery is only crushing for a child or a teen, and does, in fact, no good for anyone of any age.

5) Once again Sol hits on this theme of obedience.  He is not babbling from senility, but emphasizing the main points of his life understanding. His repetition should not bore us, but sober us.  It is vital that a youngster finds the will to submit to his parents' good discipline.

GOD IS GOOD: MILLERWORKS is Good Enough

So I was wrong.  I admit it freely now, and I admitted it quite quickly the other day when the angry old man came storming out of his garage at me.

I arrived to the job a few minutes after Mike had backed his trailer along one side of the wide gravel driveway.  In front of his truck, was an easy access to the front yard of this backwoods, country living log cabin home, and I thought I might park there to ease congestion in the drive.  Front tires went in, and then as I got a better picture of the layout, I backed out, turned around and slid in just off the other side of the driveway with my SUV.  Just right, I thought, for allowing me easy access to my tools, and leaving a wide enough lane open for the homeowner to get his pickup truck out between our work vehicles if needed.

A few minutes later, as I was opening the trailer and getting a few supplies out and ready for our job, I found out differently!
"Did you park on my grass?" was suddenly bellowed toward me as the owner came out of the garage.
"Yeah", I smiled and laughed quietly, ready for a big act.  It's November.  The ground is stiff with looming frost and the grass is half dead and buried under fallen leaves on this wooded lot. Who could really be upset about my zero impact driving?   But it was no act.

The poor guy demanded that this was no joke.  And how would I like it if he came to my house and drove on my lawn in the spring;  he asked me where I live, and then asked for my address and warned me to memorize the grill of his truck so, come springtime, I would recognize the vengeance when it fell.  I am giving him more poetic credit than he deserves and leaving out my pepperings of "Yes, of course you are right.", and about a dozen "I'm sorry sirs.", but you get the idea.  The man was irate, and I could only be apologetic and work to avoid any hint of my inner intransigence.

Mike heard the shouting from the road where he was perforating the lawn with a business sign (oh my) and asked "Is there a problem?"  As I walked away to move my truck the few inches off of the dirty driveway shoulder and onto the driveway proper, I made another mistake.  I called Mike something I never thought I would :  "I already apologized to him SIR!"  That, I will never live down.  By the time I moved my truck, the guy was out of sight and all was quiet.

So now what?  Now I have to go into the house.  With my boots on, I have to walk on this man's floors.  I will be expected to muddle with his front door that is not closing properly and make it all better. Who, me?  It seemed like a thousand things could go wrong for this newly inept carpenter of corruption.  I was tempted to take my truck right off his precious property and go home, rather than face whatever unfair judgments would surely be falling all day long.

Mike and I had a few private laughs about the guy waiting for muddy Spring to mete out his equal treatment, instead of heading for my house right now, as I gathered myself back together and remembered my responsibility to do the job before me, and no less.  I told Mike that one of my favorite verses is one of the most highly applicable:

                             "A gentle answer turns away wrath, 
                                  but a harsh word stirs up anger." Proverbs 15:1

A little later I was working on the front door and had to step aside when the lady of the house drove up and then came in with a couple very large baskets of flowers.  She did not seem happy, and I began to put two and two together.  "Somebody from this home died recently" I told Mike.  They looked like funereal flowers; the kind that somebody has to take home from the church after all is said and done.  When all are sad, and done in; when the normal aggravation of an errant workman puts one over the top, and beyond civility.  When patience and easy forgiveness are warranted, and must be exercised.

As I worked on that door the owner sat down behind me to watch.  (Normally I charge double if someone watches, and triple if they help, but I decided not to mention that this time.)  He had calmed down amazingly and offered me some inside knowledge about an electrical wire running right behind the door jamb I was about to put some long screws into.  The absent log home builder took some abuse for his folly in letting that happen, but my work was progressing without any negative interference.  I took a moment to compliment him about his beautiful home.  It was indeed nicely laid out and very well decorated.  If it weren't for the massive tire ruts all over the yard, this property would.....no, I will not let the sarcasm out this time.

Over the next few hours, as the owner hung about while Mike and I put in some new windows, it came out that the man's 90 year old Mother had died the week before.  He never apologized for going off on me, and probably never thought he should.  But the man certainly did mellow out and I will be all too happy to go back when the next batch of windows needs to be replaced.  Of course, I will park in the very middle of the driveway.