“He who answers before listening – that is his folly and his shame.”  – Proverbs 18:13 

What steps of preparation do you take before making a major decision in your life?  In my case, if confronted with that question, I’m afraid the answer would too often be either “jumping the gun,” or “jumping to conclusions.”  Like the time I was so excited about a certain job offer that I refused to listen to those who warned me against it, nor did I pay attention to the warning signs that in retrospect should have been obvious if my vision had not been clouded by my ego, ambition, and financial greed.  I jumped the gun instead of listening and investigating the facts, much to my own folly and shame.

The late J.C. Penney (1875-1971), founder of the department store chain bearing his name, was said to have had a unique method of checking out candidates he was interviewing for executive positions for tendencies to jump the gun or jump to conclusions.  This became known as the “salt test;” for when selecting new managers, he would often take the candidates out to lunch where he had a cardinal rule, those who salted their food before tasting it did not get hired.

It has been suggested that there are three basic principles to making sound decisions: (1) get the facts before answering; (2) be open to new ideas; (3) make sure you hear both sides of the story before judging.  All three of these principles center around seeking all the information possible before making a decision or passing judgment.  And what great preventative measures they are to avoid the mistake of jumping the gun or jumping to conclusions, no doubt the characteristics Mr. Penney was digging for through the “salt test” with the candidates he was interviewing.

As one who is not in the habit of reaching for the saltshaker, I might have been lucky enough to have passed Mr. Penney’s salt test.  Yet, just last evening I ordered a cup of gumbo in a restaurant of which I tasted not a single drop without first dousing it with several liberal shakes from a Tabasco sauce bottle.  Hmm!  Haven’t I learned anything from the job blunder I made those many years ago?  “He who answers before listening – that is his folly and his shame,” according to the Proverb writer.  It is a great reminder to all of us when facing the question, what steps of preparation do you take before making a major decision in your life?  Follow the three principles, or jump to conclusions?

“It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good . . .”  – Galatians 4:18 

I’m curious, who are those elusive people out there known as “hackers”?  By hackers, I’m not talking about lousy golfers, instead those computer geek types who are sneaking around out in the cyber world trying to steal confidential information such as passwords to bank accounts, personal identities, or intellectual property, the sophisticated thieves of our day.  I have this image of some zealous loner computer geek who never leaves his apartment, spending all his time staring at a screen thinking up devious schemes to either steal or vandalize.  How tragic it is for these people that they choose to use their zeal for technology and their brilliant computer skills for evil when it could be used for so much good.

“It is fine to be zealous,” the Apostle Paul says, “provided the purpose is good.”  Contrast, for example, those elusive cyber criminals with three other zealous individuals I had the opportunity to spend time with recently.  Ruth Thompson founded Hugs Café for the purpose of providing training, employment, and future employability to adults with special needs, those who many had casted off as untrainable and unemployable.  Yet, through her zeal for this population many now have productive jobs, a community of friends, a purpose in life, and most importantly knowing they are children of a God who loves them.

Then there are Colleen and Rand Southard, founders of Charis Hills, a summer camp program for young people also with special needs.  Similarly, the results are that these young people discover they are perfectly capable of riding a horse, catching a fish, paddling a kayak, singing a song, and developing true friendships – and again most importantly knowing they are children of a God who loves them.

Ruth, Colleen and Rand are three of the most zealous people I have ever known, so zealous in fact that it is almost impossible to get them to talk about anything else.  They are also three of the most joyful people I have ever known.  To hang out with them is to witness almost nonstop smiles and laughter, and that is the result not of their zeal, but the amazing good that comes from it, the lives that are transformed. . . Oh, if the hackers only knew!  Oh, if we who do know could only reach them and teach them!

“For it is in giving that we receive . . .”  – St. Francis of Assisi 

In The Gift of the Magi, arguably O. Henry’s most famous short story, he tells about Della who had the most beautiful hair.  It was her pride and joy, a gift from God that she had allowed to grow for years so that when she let it completely down it flowed practically to her knees.  Her husband Jim adored her hair too, almost as much as he adored her, as they adored each other.  Christmas was approaching and Della had been squeezing every penny she could from her household budget to buy Jim a really special gift, but as with many young couples starting out in life money was tight and she had been unable to add much to the cookie jar.  It was Christmas Eve, she was out of time.  Desperate, she had but one option.  Her gorgeous hair could be sold for a substantial sum, so she decided to sacrifice it in order to fulfill her dream of buying Jim that special gift, a gold chain for the watch he cherished, a family heirloom handed down to him by his father who had inherited it from Jim’s grandfather.  It was the perfect gift.

After arriving home from work on Christmas Eve as the couple sat down for their evening meal Jim produced from his coat pocket a small, wrapped package, a surprise for his beloved Della.  Opening it Della gasped.  It was a set of jeweled combs Della had admired in one of the store windows, perfect for the long flowing hair she once had, until she sold it to purchase the watch chain.  Except, Jim who had dreamed of giving his wife the perfect gift had sold his precious family heirloom watch in order to afford the combs.

Several years ago my wife Tee noticed that the diamond drop necklace I had given her as a wedding gift many years before was missing.  The chain had obviously broken, and the necklace had fallen from her neck.  For months she grieved over the loss of her necklace until six months later after a miraculous series of events it was recovered.

What I learned from that incident was that Tee’s distress was not so much about the material loss, except for the sacred symbolism of it, which was the gift of our life-long love for each other.  So it was that in an amazing twist of irony, Della and Jim in sacrificing their most treasured earthly possessions for each other, received something far more precious, the depth of their love for one another.  “For,” St. Francis reminds us, “it is in giving that we receive.”

“. . . give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.”

• Proverbs 30:8 

Is it true that the one who dies with the most toys wins?  Or how about the one who accumulates the most money and property, the real life “Monopoly” game?  What about the one who is the most brilliant and has the most advanced degrees, or the one who has reached the highest level in his or her organization, the one who has traveled the most, is the best athlete, the most talented artist or musician, has won the most awards, or become the most famous or the most powerful?  In the end who is the winner?

If you could ask the wisest and richest man who ever lived, a man who spent most of his life accumulating and experiencing everything he could, gaining more wealth and fame and enjoying more sensual pleasures than any of us could ever imagine, King Solomon’s answer would be none-of-the-above.  He summed it up in an essay we know as the Book of Ecclesiastes in which he declared emphatically that nothing on this earth can fully satisfy the desire for complete fulfillment – nothing.  “Meaningless! . . . Utterly meaningless!” he declared.  “Everything is meaningless . . . a chasing after the wind.”

Let’s be clear, however, Solomon’s intention was not to discourage the pursuit of success through hard work and best use of our gifts and talents; for there is no denial of our need to provide for ourselves, take care of our families and have the ability to help others, to prosper through our endeavors.  Yet, it does beg the question, how much is enough?

A wise father, the father of one of my closest friends, instructed my friend as he was completing his education and about to strike out on his own, “you need to have enough,” he said, “but you don’t need to have too much.”  I suspect my friend may have been confused at first by his father’s words, for he had worked hard at preparing himself to become successful as he had always been encouraged to do.  But his father understood the wisdom in the Proverb writer’s prayer, “. . . give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me my daily bread.  Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you . . . or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.”  It was a great lesson my friend received from his father, and one I’m thankful he passed along to me.

“Turn from evil and do good; then you will dwell in the land forever.”

• Psalm 37:27 

I recall sitting in the office of an executive with the Wall Street firm where I was once employed discussing the challenges of dealing with unethical or marginally ethical people within our industry.  (Every profession has them, by the way.)  The executive with whom I was meeting made a comment I will never forget.  Bad people never last, he assured me.  Eventually they go too far, step over the line, and get caught resulting in disciplinary action, firing, revoked licenses, lawsuits, or prosecution – and on rare occasions all the above.  I disagreed; for it seemed these clever shysters were ever present in my world placing an enormous burden on my staff and me to constantly monitor and police their activities – not the best use of our time and energy.  It’s just a fact of life, though, that from petty dishonesty to crime to terrorism to murderous dictatorships, evil is forever among us, and indeed has been throughout the history of mankind.

Someone once said that no matter how things may appear, there is no future in evil, only in good.  Pondering that has caused me to take heart; for discouraging as it is when it seems the bad guys win, when we consider that throughout history when evil actually is defeated – and it always is eventually, though not necessarily within our lifetimes – it is because in some way good has prevailed, thus validating that there is no future in evil, only in good.  Or as my old Wall Street executive friend assured me, bad people never last.

On Mount Sinai Moses received the same assurance from the Lord himself who said, “. . . for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

So we should take heart in doing good, for by doing so we are paving a path for the future; as there is no future in evil, only in good.  Or as the Psalmist affirms, “. . . do good; then you will dwell in the land forever.”