Wisdom Cries...Keep sound wisdom and discretion

Proverbs 3:21 "My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion."

Well, there's a word you don't hear everyday, discretion. I guess the truth of the matter is you don't hear much talk of wisdom either. To avoid certain redundancies, I will just remind you of what wisdom is and then move on. The encouragement here is to keep sound wisdom. We have all been imparted with some bit of wisdom, in small or large portions. Sound wisdom is not so much the information gathered from books, but more the understanding of it and how it applies to reality or life. To be perfectly plain about it, a large part of wisdom is the ability to approach a situation and determine the best course of action, and more importantly, the right course of action. So it is not a stretch at all to describe sound wisdom as the ability to know the difference between right and wrong.

According to Roget, a synonym for discretion is responsibility. To complete this thought...know the difference between right and wrong and then be responsible with that information. Boy, if wisdom were a real person, she would be smacking her forehead with her palm these days. I do not know what is more lacking, sound wisdom, actually knowing the difference between right and wrong, or discretion, the responsibility to carry out what is right. First of all, there seems to be a disconnect in the world today from an actual standard of right and wrong. Nowadays, it is totally situational so that sometimes it's alright to lie, steal, or kill the innocent. It just depends on the circumstances, the greater good, maybe. My, how we need men and women to remember what their grandparents lived by. It worked, ya know? It used to be black and white when it came to doing right. After all, they came up with the saying, "It's never right to do wrong, and it's never wrong to do right." As if the drought of sound wisdom were not enough, there is nearly a complete absence of responsibility these days. It's always someone else's fault or someone else's job. Our society is running headlong into a population-wide handing over of responsibility to the government. Everywhere I look, people, young and old, feel like they are owed something. They are entitled to a discount or an extra chance or a free ride.

Boy, wisdom is crying loud here. Please, remember what the difference is between right and wrong. If you never knew it, find out. Ask your grandparents, or better yet, read the Bible. And then take responsibility for yourself. Do good. Do right. Live right. You take over the care and keeping of you and yours. Stop standing around with your hand out, literally or figuratively, for someone to handle the mess you are in or make something of the life you're living. Hey, if it's help you need, by all means, ask for it and if I am nearby, I will do the best I can. But shouldn't you expect the same from yourself, to do the best you can? Let's begin to be a nation of folks that know to do right and then do it.