Apicontent

Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses. (Proverbs 27:6)

He who rebukes a man will in the end gain more favor than he who has a flattering tongue. (Proverbs 28:23)

Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you. (Proverbs 9:8)

Hollywood—and much of the entertainment industry—has a really seductive cultural practice. I call it “vain praise.” It sounds like this: “Hey, baby, you have what it takes to be a star.” “Oh, dah­ling, you look gorrrgeous.” “With your looks/body/talent, you’ll be a household name in no time.”

I attended a Hollywood funeral a few years ago and listened to the flattering palaver of about a dozen of the media elite, some of whom I knew really couldn’t stand the deceased. Even in death (especially in death?), they couldn’t tell the truth.

God explains a fascinating dynamic in the writings of King Solomon about the benefits of rebuke and the folly of flattery. The concept isn’t abstruse. It is based on the value of telling other people the truth (graciously) and not worrying about their feelings or the possible backlash. Scriptures actually feature well-motivated rebuke as essential to true friendship!

You read it above: “The wounds of a friend can be trusted.”

Principle: True friends will love you enough to scrub you down with truth, even when they know it stings. Your enemies will lather you up with the soft soap of what they think you want to hear.

This principle of “rebuke-willingness” is so thoroughly endorsed by King Solomon that he touts it as a long-term strategy to gain favor. Note in the second verse cited above, the emphasis is on the long­ term. In the short-term, loving rebuke can have really adverse effects, because the wisdom of the rebuke hasn’t had a chance to “play out” to its consequences.

When the wisdom of a rebuke has kept the friend from suffering the consequences of a wrong path, a destructive habit, or serious character weakness, he will be filled with gratitude and embrace you.

Principle: A relationship based on open truth is true friendship; one built on flattery is a con game.

Solomon does have one caveat in the rebuke principle. That is discerning whether the one needing the rebuke qualifies as a “fool”­ one who despises wisdom and instruction. In such a case, he cautions us not to give unwanted counsel, direction, correction, or rebuke, because, “He who rebukes a fool invites abuse” (Proverbs 9:7).

Principle: A loving rebuke requires running your hand along the wall of another’s soul and feeling for a crack to put the truth in; if there’s no crack, don’t bother throwing it at the wall.

So a phrase to memorize when confronted with rebuke or constructive criticism is, “Thank you for the helpful suggestion.” It will help you, if you let God use it in your life!

[from “Wisdom for the Trenches” by Dr. Larry W. Poland]

A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heart­ache crushes the spirit. (Proverbs 15:13)

The look on their faces testifies against them; they parade their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. (Isaiah 3:9)

As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man. (Proverbs 27:19)

Comedian George Burns said of entertainment, “The secret to success in this business is sincerity. And if you can fake that, you’ve got it made.” Is it not true that professional actors have to become outstanding in their ability to “fake it” when it comes to a role? They must fake evil motivations and cherubic ones, angry emotions and elated ones.

There is another facet in the human face that defies “faking.” It is the sincerity of heart which shows through even when a righteous actor is playing the role of a vile, despicable person—and playing it well. Something in the eyes says the actor is “too innocent” to be playing the part well. You’ve seen it and chalked it up to “bad casting.”

The Scriptures make fascinating observations about the human countenance—the spiritual “aura” that appears on the face and mostly inside the eyes. The Proverbs 27:19 passage links, indirectly, that mirroring of a face in a pond with the mirroring of the person’s spirit in the countenance.

Principle: The eyes are the window to the human soul, and what’s going on there shows on the countenance.

There is a “light” or a “darkness” in a countenance depending on the amount of spiritual light and life that exists in the soul. God is described as having a “light in His countenance.” God, speaking through Isaiah, told the Israelites that because of their spiritual darkness, “the look on their faces testifies against them… they do not hide it.”

A Berkley professor with two Ph.D. degrees conducted more than 1,200 controlled interviews for the military in Vietnam to discover the use and effects of hallucinogenic drugs. He told me that after he had done a couple of hundred interviews, he did not have to ask the soldiers if they had been delivered from drug addiction by a new birth through Jesus Christ. They had a “light in their eyes,” he said, and even bore witness to seeing a “physical light” at the moment salvation released them from bondage to drugs.

Principle: Persons with Christ in them possess a spiritual life and peace which shows as “brightness” and tranquility in the countenance; you can look for and see it.

About thirty years ago, testing this teaching, I began studying countenance and learning to “read” the spiritual light in them. After testing this principle successfully, I am convinced that both righteousness­ and its attendant peace—and darkness are revealed in the countenance. The apostle Paul describes an immoral woman who lives for pleasure as “dead even while she lives” (1 Timothy 5:6). This is the hollow-eyed whore or vile, dark-countenance libertine whose physical attractiveness is eclipsed by a lightless, death-driven countenance.

Principle: Sin causes darkness in the human spirit which shows in the countenance; it can’t be covered with makeup nor the light “faked” by a happy face.

Principle: True spiritual beauty abides in the heart and is transmitted to the eyes, making a person ‘ugly” or “beautiful” independent of physical attributes.

Be a light-filled, beautiful person. Let the light of Christ fill you and flow through you. By the way, you can’t fake this.

[from “Wisdom for the Trenches” by Dr. Larry W. Poland]

The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. (Proverbs 22:7)

The wicked borrow and do not repay. (Psalm 37:21a)

If you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge for another…go and humble yourself; press your plea with your neighbor…free yourself. (Proverbs 6:1-5, Excerpts)

In this age of easy credit—a dollar down and a dollar forever—even followers of Christ get snared into the folly of borrowing. It seems that some have followed the philosophy, “Borrow big and pray for the rapture!”

The wisdom literature of the Bible has a lot to say about the snare of indebtedness and the stupidity of the one falling into it. The passage above puts it bluntly: borrowing establishes a slave/master relation­ship with the borrower being the slave. If you have ever had a lending institution on your tail or bill collectors at your door, you understand who is in control and who isn’t! Lenders have the power, and often the law, on their side. Some lenders are particularly ruthless as in, “The glass eye is the warm one!” When this is the case, they can make your borrowing stupidity really painful.

Principle: Borrowing can be really foolish because it puts the borrower in servitude to the lender…and nobody likes being a slave.

In part because money is so important to those in the world system—and many in the household of faith, as well—deep offense is created by the sloppy handling of debt repayment. How many times have we heard, “I’ll never do business with Christians again. I helped out a Christian once, and he never repaid me”? One mark of integrity is the prompt and faithful repayment of obligations.

The psalmist is as blunt as the writer of Proverbs on this point: “The wicked borrow and do not repay.”

Principle: Meeting financial obligations in a prompt and timely manner is a hallmark of integrity. Not to do so puts us in the camp of the wicked.

“Fine,” you say, “but what about financial reversals or even ‘acts of God’ which keep us from meeting our obligations or meeting them in a timely manner? What then?” The Scriptures have remedies for these situations, and the first rule is to communicate…now! When Jesus gave commands on handling those who have something against us (like ticked-off lenders), He directed us, “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny” (Matthew 5:25-26).

Principle: Time is on the side of those with a cause against us, so we must communicate and settle issues promptly to avoid the dire consequences of delay.

Finally, don’t be too proud to grovel! If we can’t pay an obligation on time, the Proverbs 6 passage directs us to “go,” “humble ourselves,” and “plead.” If God grants mercy through our financial “masters,” the yoke of servitude may be lightened, and it will be worth eating crow.

Principle: To approach unmet financial obligations by silence, flight, or prideful resistance is not only foolish, it is counterproductive at every level.

Paul said it well in Romans 13:7a, “Give everyone what you owe him.” Doing so will set you apart from “the wicked” and strengthen your witness for the only True Master.

[from “Wisdom for the Trenches” by Dr. Larry W. Poland]

Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; someone else, and not your own lips. (Proverbs 27:2)

It is not good to eat too much honey, nor is it honorable to seek one’s own honor. (Proverbs 25:27)

My godly father had an expression which pretty much “nailed it” in describing people who are filled with themselves. He said with his wry smile, “I’d like to buy’em for what they’re worth and sell ’em for what they think they’re worth.” Big profit margin there!

If there ever were industries that specialize in inflated egos, exaggerated bios, out-of-reality press releases, and over-the-top self-adulation, they are entertainment and politics. Many in both camps pay an entire staff of people to tell others how wonderful they are, since their own all-out efforts at self-praise are totally insufficient!

Principle: If we are really great, people will find it out without our telling them. Telling them how great we are usually creates the opposite impression in their minds.

The Scriptures have a different emphasis from self-promotion. They support the pursuit of stature, not status. The principle articulated by Jesus is that “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14). This concept is a tough sell in this culture!

I know of a Christian leader who desperately wanted to be called “Doctor.” He was so desperate that he wrote to the presidents of a number of Christian colleges soliciting an honorary doctorate. Incredibly, one school gave him a DD-Donated Dignity. I always wondered why it didn’t seem hollow to him when he insisted that he be called “Doctor.” He had connived to get the title rather than working for years in an established university to get the honor like most others bearing the title.

Principle: Earthly honor soon dies, but humbling oneself before God brings the acclaim of heaven and its angels forever.

King Solomon and his friends were unimpressed with those who were impressed with themselves. They directed, in the two passages cited above, that people let praise come from the mouths of others, not their own.

Finally, I think the reason that prideful self-exaltation is condemned in Scriptures is there is no such thing as a “self-made person.” If there were, you could spot that person in a second by the defects in workmanship! Allowing others to recognize the character of God in us—and applaud it—is far more rewarding than trumpeting our own achievements and, thus, blaspheming their True Giver.

Principle: Self-praise steals from God the honor due Him, for no one ever achieves anything worthwhile apart from the gifts, abilities, and grace of his Maker.

Finally, the writers of Proverbs have a fascinating figure of speech to illustrate the counterproductive nature of self-promotion—honey gorging. Honey is sweet to the lips and rich addition to food when taken in small quantities, but I don’t know anyone who could stand sitting down to a gallon container of honey and trying to eat all of it. Very quickly it becomes too much of a good thing and turns bitter to the taste. I know a person who can barely speak a single sentence without including some self-aggrandizing reference. A little of that goes a long way.

The Book declares that if we “humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord, HE will lift us up!”

[from “Wisdom for the Trenches” by Dr. Larry W. Poland]

A happy heart makes the face cheerful. (Proverbs 15:13a)

A cheerful heart is good medicine. (Proverbs 17:22a)

Someone has said, “Everybody lights up a room—some by entering and others by leaving.” One would think that Christians, of all people, would light up a room by entering. Yet a friend of mine is convinced that some Christians are so dour they must have had special surgery—a “humor bypass.”

Amazing, isn’t it, the impression we leave everywhere we go just by the “affect” we display? Think over the list of people you really like or really like to see. Now give some thought to those you dread seeing. I’ll bet the difference is largely a matter of the “joy factor.” Everybody likes to be around authentically joyful people, smiley people, fun people, positive people.

Proverbs affirms the source of all of the above—a “joyful heart.” You see, it’s not laughter that is the good medicine; it’s a cheerful, joy-filled heart. I heard a successful Christian filmmaker say that all laughter is divine. He’s wrong. In Los Angeles, some gang members put a bullet in a little boy’s head and laughed. In Hollywood, comedians commit suicide. In Vegas, on Broadway, and in most bars, people laugh at really vile, wicked things. Only true joy is divine.

Principle: Laughter that flows from any place other than a pure heart has a polluted source and a poisonous effect.

As most commonly used in the Scriptures, the “heart” is the seat of the affections, the center of spirit, will, and emotions. It’s where God lives in the believer. It’s not all that inaccurate for us to ask children to “ask Jesus into your heart.” When He resides there, all of His char­acter traits reside there as well.

Principle: The one who is indwelt by the Spirit of Christ has His joy in his spirit; the first, telltale mark of sin’s entrance is loss of joy.

A visiting song leader to some revival meetings I attended as a kid surveyed the dour, straight-laced fundamentalists in my church, stopped the singing, and said, “If anybody here has the joy of the Lord in your heart, will you tell your heart to notify your face!” The writers of Proverbs knew there was an inviolable link between the two. “A happy face means a glad heart.”

Principle: As the pupil of the eye is the window to the world, So the countenance of the face is the window to the soul; it reveals the condition of the heart.

Cheer up! If you can’t, let Him fill you with His joy.

[from “Wisdom for the Trenches” by Dr. Larry W. Poland]

The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity. (Proverbs 11:3)

The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the unfaithful are trapped by evil desires. (Proverbs 11:6)

If they say, “Come along with us; let’s waylay some harmless soul…,” my son, do not go along with them; do not set foot on their paths. (Proverbs 1:11-15)

An executive at a huge New York company felt threatened by the arrival of a new company chairman. So she sowed false stories in the press to leverage publicity in protection of her own job and agenda.

A retired Hollywood public relations executive for a major studio admitted to the LA Times that he and his company’s PR department spent a good percentage of their efforts using “anonymous sources” all over the nation to place destructive stories in the press about com­petitors, rather than just promoting the benefits of their own studio.

Washington, DC, politicians and Hollywood spin doctors threaten, manipulate the press, and spread lies to protect the interests of the pols or stars they represent.

Treachery. This is not a word we use often and not one most believers would ever think could describe them. But, in little and big ways, we can be a party to extremely cunning and treacherous actions…under other names.

Proverbs 3 uses the word duplicity. Every time we violate our integrity by (1) pretending to be something or someone we are not or (2) acting one way with an influential person and another way with those who can’t do anything for us, we tiptoe on the edges of treachery. Scripture makes it clear that this behavior is a self-set trap. There is a God who will guarantee that, sooner or later, the schemes to which we are the party will catch us!

Principle: One way to avoid being trapped is to avoid setting traps for others; God turns all evil schemes against those creating them.

The personal pilot for a powerful business executive made an error in preparing his private jet for flight, one which could have caused a crash. The pilot, a committed Christian, could have lied about the error and blamed it on something or someone else to avoid the con­sequences. Instead, he volunteered the truth in total transparency…and lost his job. But God took care of him, he kept his integrity and witness, and he has another fine position. More than that, his righteousness kept him from the backfire of his own scheme—far worse than being fired. A scheme to cover up this matter would most likely have been exposed. Both Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton learned this lesson from Proverbs the hard way.

Principle: The way to escape the traps of others (or the enemy) is to do the right thing no matter the cost; short-term gains at the expense of integrity generate serious long-term losses.

There are situations in which running is not cowardly. Proverbs 1:15 describes one of these situations—when someone has an unrighteous plan and wants you to be a party to it. In different words, Solomon urges the righteous person to make a run for it! Don’t put a foot on the schemer’s path! Choke ’em in heel dust!

Principle: Every evil plan sets a path and draws others to take it. The righteous person runs away from this path as fast as the power of God will take him.

[from “Wisdom for the Trenches” by Dr. Larry W. Poland]

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. (Proverbs 15:1)

The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool gushes folly. (Proverbs 15:2)

The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit. (Proverbs 15:4)

The elementary school playground is hardly a repository for profundity, of this we can be sure. Between the jungle gym and the teeter-totter, we hear inane comments like, “I see Germany, I see France, I see Johnny’s underpants” or the utter falsehood, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Calculated to be the world’s most clever defense for name-calling and other types of verbal abuse, this puerile maxim declares a frighteningly misleading principle.

If there is anything we learn as we grow older, it is that words have serious consequences—wonderful or awful consequences. Many adults hold a self-perception formed by either the loving affirmation or the thoughtlessly cruel words of a parent. Try these: “You can do it!” “We believe in you!” “You are precious to us.” “We love you with all our hearts.”

Or try these: “I wish you hadn’t been born.” “You’re worthless and will never amount to anything.” “Can’t you do anything right?” “You stupid idiot!” Big difference in the impact. Hurtful words driven deep into a child’s heart and psyche contribute to adult depression, aggression, and even violent antisocial behavior.

In the three verses above taken from Proverbs 15, the benefits of well-chosen words are lauded. Gentle ones assuage other people’s anger. Wise words promote knowledge—more light than heat. Healing words feed life into the hearer.

When Jesus said that we would be held accountable for “every idle word,” I think he meant every idle word. To an all-hearing God, nothing is missed, and every word is measured. How wonderful it must be for God to hear His grace and wisdom gushing forth to benefit a world gone mad with evil-speaking.

Principle: The ultimate impact for good you make on others during your life may well be the result of the gentle, wise, healing words you speak.

If our good words can bless others, our hurtful words, even the “unintended ones,” are a curse to them. Solomon describes the consequences of stupid word choices, harsh speech, and deceitful language in the most awful terms. They cause dissension, spoiling unity, fellowship, and team effort. They stir anger in others, with highly unpleasant reactions. They suck the life out of others, draining the spiritual energy out of a family or workplace. They crush the human spirit of the hearers, often leaving them permanently impaired.

Principle: Only eternity will tell how many of the world’s lost and hopeless were pushed into those states of being by someone’s cruel words…including ours.

It seems that the lesson from Proverbs is that a severe physical beating would do less long-term damage to a person than our vicious verbal assaults. Sticks and stones do hurt…really hurt.

Principle: Destructive words are the nuclear “sticks and stones” that reduce human beings to rubble—with an extremely slow rate of fallout.

Watch your words.

[from “Wisdom for the Trenches” by Dr. Larry W. Poland]

Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. (Proverbs 6:6-8)

A godly family member has been successful in the lumber business in Nebraska. After taking over ownership of the family enterprise, he expanded the original location, opened a second lumberyard in a nearby city, and grew the business substantially. A young hire who demonstrated a rather pronounced aversion to hard work told the owner one day, “You sure are lucky.” In his inimitable, easygoing Nebraska style, he replied, “You know, I’ve found the harder I work, the luckier I get.”

I have found many both white-collar and blue-collar people among the hardest workers on the planet. The pressure, fierce competition, and breakneck pace of the American business culture makes the forty-hour workweek a mere fantasy for many, as they log fifty to seventy or more hours a week.

Then there are the “sluggards.” Though not a commonly used word, I like “sluggard”. It sounds like “slug” and “sluggish” and rather nicely por­trays the person whose “get up and go” apparently has gotten up and gone. Solomon and his colleagues hold up the non-sluggard ant as a model for human wisdom in work…in three dimensions.

First, the ant has no earthly boss to crack the whip to get it going. While it benefits from divine programming in its instincts, it is a self­-starter. I’ve met a lot of young people with dreams who spent literally decades waiting for the “big break” to come but not willing to work for it to come. They nearly starved.

I told one such sluggard, “You always have full-time employment­ working at a job or looking for one.” The second part of that equation had apparently escaped him. A gospel song declares, “Jesus was a working man.” He was… and is… and expects us to work hard as well.

Principle: A mark of God’s touch on fallen human beings is a love for and commitment to noble labor. Laziness is a major concession to sin and wreaks passive destruction.

Proverbs lauds the ant for its advanced planning and execution. Sluggards don’t make preparations for the future and implement them. Like lottery winners, they live by, “Hit it big, spend it big. Fall on hard times, end up penniless.” Many could have “Ready, fire, aim” as their life motto. They have no real goals or plans—dreams and fantasies, but no goals or plans—and no channeling of resources to pursue either.

Principle: Those who aim at nothing are guaranteed a direct hit. Those who set goals but focus no labor on achieving them are no better off than the goal-less ones.

Finally, the writers of Proverbs laud the ant’s productive labor. The ant harvests and it stores. Both are hard work! I heard once that if humans could carry loads proportionate to our size and weight as an ant, we could carry loaded railroad boxcars! How wonderful it is that those of us who are surrendered to God and trusting Him have supernatural power available to carry the sometimes overwhelming workloads of life.

Principle: No one can handle the heavy workloads of life with­out God’s strength. To try is an ungrateful reliance on prideful self.

[from “Wisdom for the Trenches” by Dr. Larry W. Poland]

Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked. (Proverbs 10:6)

The wicked man earns deceptive wages, but he who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward. (Proverbs 11:18)

Soon after my wife and I married, a securities dealer challenged us to invest in some over-the-counter stock. This, our first experience in “investing” a little of our hard-earned money turned out to be pain­fully unrewarding. Now that the pain is gone, we can laugh about the line the salesman used to get us to sign on the dotted line: “You can only make two mistakes—not buying any and not buying enough.” We made both mistakes! The twenty-dollar stock we eventually gave away at fifty cents a share.

Sometimes, I think we believers doubt the return on our investment in godliness—that maybe it isn’t that all that great. We see so many who scoff at God and seem to prosper. We say to ourselves, “I deny myself all of these worldly pleasures and opportunities, and what do I get? Pie in the sky in the sweet by and by?” Not if the book of Proverbs can be believed.

God has put in black and white the blessings He holds in store for the right-living person who makes wise choices…and the list is incredible. The verse above describes the blessings as crowning the head of the righteous. That means being blessed royally.

Principle: To doubt that the rewards God provides for trust and obedience in this life will be ample is to doubt God’s very character and the trustworthiness of His promises to us. It insults Him.

About those people who live like the devil and seem to prosper like gods…the Scriptures are not silent. Nowhere does God say that evil people won’t make out like bandits…for a while. Time is the arbiter of who really gets the rewards. Proverbs makes it clear that in the long run things will turn to blessing for the right-living person and to disaster for the evil person. The problem with this teaching for Americans is that we want it all now. God isn’t in the instant-winner business.

Principle: There is a good reason God has a time-delay factor in His reward system. It takes time for the really clever evil-doers and the talk-but-no-walk Christians to show their true colors, but for the righteous, God’s rewards are worth the wait.

The list of promises in Proverbs alone is impressive. Read this list of blessings: staying power in society (2:21), blessing on home and family (3:33), deliverance from death (10:2), protection from hunger (10:3), a legacy of honorable remembrance (10:7), wealth without the problems that come with ill-gotten gain (10:22), an inheritance to leave for children and grandchildren (13:22), and protection for home and family (14:11). Why, that’s better than Social Security and Medicare!

Principle: When the enemy whispers that the wise, righteous life is a losing proposition, shout at him that he must not have read the last chapter of the Book that describes the Award Ceremony.

[from “Wisdom for the Trenches” by Dr. Larry W. Poland]

Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed…In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. (Proverbs 16:3, 9)

Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. (Proverbs 15:22)

Do not those who plot evil go astray? But those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness. (Proverbs 14:22)

“Wanna give God a good laugh?” asks a friend of mine. “Tell Him your plans,” he says, and this answer is not making a mockery of planning. Let me explain.

I remember when my oldest son was a young boy, he was making a plan for sidewalk races in front of our house. We observed him laboring over a hand-lettered wooden sign he was making for the races. When he finally revealed it to us with pride, it said, “EVERYBODY’S STARTING AND FINISHING LINE.” We laughed…and still do.

There was nothing wrong with our son’s motivations, and his execution was impeccable. He just, at his age, lacked sufficient knowledge to realize that his well-planned sign wouldn’t work.

Sound familiar? Remember those times when you made what you thought were absolutely airtight plans only to discover that when launched they sank? Ouch!

The writer of Proverbs makes a powerful case for including God in all your planning, and His logic is impeccable: “Only the Lord can make a person’s plans come true.” As someone has said, “Remember, Noah’s ark was built by an amateur on God’s plans. The Titanic was built by professionals without them.”

Principle: Leaving God out of your planning is a fatal error. Only a fool would ignore omniscience in planning and omnipotence in execution, if available.

A former senior executive of a billion-dollar company tells of a high-level-management seminar sponsored for its honchos. In one exercise, each exec was asked to rank order a number of items to be included in a hypothetical trip back from the moon. Then gathered in small groups, the groups decided by consensus what the rank ordering should be. The exec tells how stunned everyone was to discover that the lowest group score was better than the highest individual score!

Proverbs nails it: “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisors, they succeed.”

Principle: It is foolishly arrogant to make plans without consulting others, especially your spouse. It is in diversity of knowledge and experience that effective plans are established.

Finally, a crucial dimension of planning is the moral intent and methods in the plan. The Great Arbiter of the Universe polices human plans to assure that—in the long run—evil plans will be thwarted and good plans succeed.

Principle: It is better to make mediocre plans to achieve a noble end than to create excellent plans to do evil because the latter will face divine opposition and the former divine aid.

[from “Wisdom for the Trenches” by Dr. Larry W. Poland]