Rev. Don Campbell
Proverbs 19-21
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, June 9, 2019
“THERE ARE TWO SIDES”
“Fools rush in where angels fear to tread” is not one of Solomon’s proverbs, but a quotation from Alexander Pope. Perhaps it would be wise of me to ignore some comments made by Solomon about wives, but Solomon was either wise enough or foolish enough to say much the same thing about wives in three different verses in our reading. First, let’s read what he had to say:
“A foolish child is a calamity to a father; a quarrelsome wife is as annoying as constant dripping” (Proverbs 19:13, NLT).
“It’s better to live alone in the corner of an attic than with a quarrelsome wife in a lovely home” (Proverbs 21:9).
“It’s better to live alone in the desert than with a quarrelsome, complaining wife” (Proverbs 21:19).
In Washington Irving’s short story “Rip Van Winkle,” Dame Van Winkle’s nagging drove him to the Catskill Mountains to hunt or fish. If you remember the story, one day Rip went off to the mountains, laid down under a tree and fell to sleep for 20 years. This theme continues today, as some retreat to the bar to drink because of either a nagging wife or a frigid one, as in Mark Chestnut’s “Too Cold at Home”: “These old dog days of summer, Lord, I’ll be glad when they’re gone. It’s too hot to fish, and too hot for golf, and too cold at home.”
Such lines and such stories are always good for a laugh among the men—and sometimes among the women. Let’s remember Solomon’s own words: “The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him” (Proverbs 18:17). There are two sides to every story. Jane Cannon comments on Rip: “He did more repairs and errands for the village than for his own family. He spent more time with the children of the village than with his own children. Just like Rip, there are husbands and fathers of today’s culture that spend a majority of time away from their families. Are these men avoiding their “nagging” wives? Are the emotional challenges and responsibilities of being a husband, nurturing and raising children to difficult for some men to handle? Is it easier for some men to become more involved outside the home because there is no commitment to relationship?” Ouch!
Yes, there are some wives that just like to nag; but what some may consider nagging is simply an effort by the wives to motivate husbands and fathers to be husbands and fathers.
Hoping that I have redeemed myself a little with my women readers and only angered a few of my men readers, this fool will put his hand over his mouth and say no more.
CONNECTIONS
1. Solomon said that in all his search, he had found one man out of a thousand worthy of the name and not a single woman who was worthy (Ecclesiastes 7:28). Do you believe that Solomon’s view of women was clouded by the fact that he had so many wives and concubines?
2. Solomon also said, “He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord” (Proverbs 18:22). Is he saying that a good wife (or husband) is from the Lord, so we ought to listen to the Lord when we are about to leap into marriage?
