April 20

It was my first mow of the season. And the first mow anywhere in our immediate neighborhood. A couple of neighbors cheerily waved in my direction...and probably cursed me under their breath. The first salvo over the bow. I'm a pirate.

In our culdesac, spring and summer lawn care is almost a cold war era arms race. On any Saturday (or Sunday) the first sound of any lawnmower starting up turns the other neighbors into Pavlovian dogs. Soon, everybody is out mowing.

Whether they want to or not. Social pressure.

I wonder how much of what I see surfing my news feeds and social media is just that - a salvo over the bow, shots that force the reader to estimate just how much social pressure they can or cannot bear. And all predicated on which opinion (i.e. team) each of us chooses to adopt.

Wouldn't it be awesome if no one felt obligated to share everything that's in their head? (And I wouldn't blame you for quoting Luke 4:23 back to me.)

King Solomon was pretty wise. He knew even he didn't need to verbalize everything in his head. And he verbalized a lot.

Proverbs 17:27-28 says, "Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent."

There's hope for even the most verbose of us.

It continues. Proverbs 18:2 says, "A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion."

'Nuff said.

And, a final salvo - Proverbs 18:17, "The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him."

Wise people know there's more to any story.

Wouldn't it be awesome if we all decided that timeless and tested wisdom is perhaps more valuable than the opinions of "authorities" being gulped down right now?

Wouldn't it be awesome is we all decided to allow God's truth, God's wisdom to be the first (and only) salvo shots over our own bows?

-Mike Rydman, Lead Pastor, Radiant Church | Juneau