The cable guy is at my house right now installing the new cable. I’m expecting that before he leaves, he’ll hand me an instruction manual.
Just in case I forget how to turn on the TV.
Or change the channels.
Who really reads instruction manuals? My tendency when I come home with a box of Swedish assemble-it-yourself furniture is tear it open and put it to use. Until I get completely lost. And made a huge mess.
And maybe I’m like that with life, too.
Hear, O sons, a father’s instruction.
At the end of this chapter, Solomon offers instruction in four dimensions of human life: the heart, the mouth, the eyes, and the feet. In other words, what you give yourself to care about, what you say, what you see, and where you go.
Keep your heart with all vigilance. This means something more than the cardiac muscle that pumps blood through the body. This is the core of our identity, the nerve-center of what we think about and how we feel. It’s like the center of gravity of our whole being. So pay attention special attention to where your heart goes.
Put away from you crooked speech. Words shape worlds. Telling the truth matters. With our mouths and our words we carry the power to create and destroy.
Let your eyes look directly forward. Distractions surround us all the time. Images are powerful, and the things we see profoundly affect how we imagine the world. What you look at determines what you imagine.
Ponder the path of your feet. Just where are you? Where did you go today? What places did you go?
All four of these exhortations remind us of the daily choices we make. We each have a say we care about and give our attention to.
So what are we going to do with that today?
Fiftyeight 