Are We Learning?

A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth. It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart. Frustration is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.  It is better to heed the rebuke of a wise person than to listen to the song of fools. Like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of fools. This too is meaningless. Extortion turns a wise person into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart. The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride. Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools. Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not wise to ask such questions. Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun. Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves those who have it. Ecclesiastes 7: 1-12 NIV

Does it make sense to go through life never learning anything? As imperfect, flawed human beings, we are all subject to making mistakes and God doesn't have a problem with our making mistakes; He has a problem with our not learning from them.

Consider the toddler who wobbles when learning to walk. They are trying out something new and inevitably they fall more than walk standing upright trying to make it to a destination. Children--are marvelous human beings--they are determined and adventurous and most never give up.

I remember when my grandson first walked. The distance was short--from one person to another who was sitting at the dining room table. He made the first few steps--holding one finger in the air as his balancer, but miscalculated the distance in getting to his favorite person and in his excitement, tumbled forward and hit his head on the edge of the chair. Of course, he howled and we were quick to apply an ice pack after making sure he was not seriously hurt. He was held and coddled for about ten minutes until his squirming made me put him down. He stood by the chair and turned around--and made his way back to his friend, without falling this time. Excited, he plopped down on the floor, crawled back to me and stood up, ready to do it again and he did. Within an hour, his relentlessness inspired him to continue walking until he had made it from one room to another--still holding that one finger in the air, but he was giddy with excitement--knowing that he could do what the big people did. He learned--even though he fell a few times--he never gave up.

Determination and relentlessness is what gets most of us through life's journey. We may fall, but when we keep trying--we eventually reach our goal and we learn along the way, how to do it better.

When I look at the news and see the anger and the foolishness that people exhibit regarding their choice in politics--I wonder when they'll learn--hatred is not the answer. When people attack others simply because they don't agree, there's a lesson to be learned. When people keep doing foolish things and think they're going to get away with it, there's a lesson to be learned. When people do things they think are conducted "under cover of secrecy or darkness" and get caught, there's a lesson to be learned.

Here are a few lessons that should have been learned by now by those in the White House:

• Once your name is tainted, your integrity will be questioned.
• When you lie about everything, you lose credibility about anything.
• Thinking you're a savior when you are but a mere-mortal, will bring you frustration and disappointment.
• Having the mindset of a dictator and bully, will not earn you respect.
• Trying to govern a country, is not the same as running a private enterprise.
• When you don't know how to do something, seek the counsel of those who do.
• When you know you have obtained a position by corrupt and devious means, expect to be found out and removed.
• Everything you do in the dark will be exposed in the light of day for all the world to see.

Of course, who am I that anyone in the White House would heed what I say? Nevertheless, the truth has been stated and if the truth is not received, the results are on the one who refused to accept truth--they end up being the foolish and unwise.

Pay attention to life's lessons and make sure you learn from everything that happens and learn it well so you won't have to repeat the lesson, before you get it right.