Jun13 Written by:E-Zine Admin
6/13/2008 10:42 AM
Issue 9, Jun 2008
Nice breeze this morning, so the walking was pleasant, cool, invigorating. And the school year ends tomorrow.
Graduation time. Once again, it is time for celebrations, offering of best wishes and words of advice for the newly minted graduates.
So, this morning one column in our local newspaper suggested paying attention to the handshake. Did you look the principal in the eye when you shook his or her hand and smile?
Funny, we take handshakes for granted, and yet this columnist claimed studies show it can give people impressions about a person. If the handshake is firm and direct, and the person makes eye contact and smiles directly, it means sincerity and makes a fine first statement.
But, if the handshake is careless, sloppy and lukewarm while one glances over the shoulder or down to the floor, it makes a bad impression.
So the advice is to stick your hand out horizontally, have a warm smile on your face, and shake once, firmly, and release.
But enough about graduation and handshakes.
I was thinking this morning of the advice parents offer during good-byes as their son or daughter leaves home for university or to work elsewhere.
One that sticks in my mind is something my own father said. He warned us about “Mitmachen”. It’s a German word that covers so many things. At its root, the word means doing something because everybody else is doing it, going with the crowd. Dad used to picture the end of that trail. It usually ended in doing something stupid.
King Solomon said, “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not”.
Prov.1:10.
Don’t go that way. Do your own thinking. Avoid the path of the wicked, said Solomon, “pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away” (
Prov. 4:14-19). It is better to think about an action beforehand. What is the end of it? What does it mean? To what purpose am I doing this? So many questions. But, the point is, ask them before doing what “everybody is doing.”
That’s really a sound word for us at any time. We’ve all done things, dumb things, stupid things, even hurtful things, because we did not first ask what the end of our acts or words might be.
Think, then act, is the word from Solomon. Then he says, “My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them and health to all their flesh. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (
Prov. 4,20-23).
Copyright © 2008 Reclaiming Our Heritage
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