Day 191. Proverbs 29-31

The Book of Proverbs is exceptional in the Bible in seeking to give us a picture of what the peaceful, balanced life could be like-- a life of moderation lived between the extremes of wealth and poverty, of indifference and fanaticism. Wisdom is what makes this serene, moderate existence possible. It is the kind of life many of us long for, especially as we get older. In our reading for today, among the sayings an otherwise unknown sage named Agur, we find a modest little prayer that goes like this—LORD, "two things I ask of you; do not deny them to me before I die: Remove from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that I need, or I shall be full, and deny you, and say, 'who is the LORD?' or I shall be poor, and steal, and profane the name of my God" (Proverbs 30:7-9). In order to live that kind of life we need to purge ourselves of our illusions—all "falsehood and lying"—and tell ourselves
the truth about ourselves. There is no point in pretending when we know better. Then we need to learn the meaning of that petition of the Lord's Prayer we have said so often—"Give us this day our daily bread." By the grace of the Holy Spirit we need to free ourselves—as much as is possible in this life--from fear and desire—the fear of having too little and the desire to possess too much. We need to conscientiously seek the middle ground between poverty and riches. It's like my father used to say—If you're poor and your shoes are too small, your life will pinch you and you will always be in pain. If you're rich and your shoes are too big, you will always be danger of stumbling and falling over your own feet. Seek the middle ground, beyond wishing and fearing, because that is where peace is—in what Emily Dickinson called "the stillness ultimately best."