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Archive for November, 2008

Proverbs 28:20: “A faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.”

I’ve been asking myself this question: Why did I want to get rich? Was it because of honest, people-caring reasons? Or was there something within me, like greed or insecurity, that drove me to want more than I needed?

An overbearing eagerness to get rich distorts our vision and opens our thoughts to shortcuts. We become ungrateful and discontented with what we have. That often leads to inner stress and outer turmoil. We start to think we deserve better than what we’ve earned, the job we’re in, even the people in our lives.

And we rationalize. “When I get rich, I’ll be able to help more people, contribute to more worthy causes. But right now, I must invest and re-invest everything I have into achieving my dream.” Of course, “the end doesn’t justify the means.”

But millions of people, and many countries including the United States, are being “punished” by severe financial problems right now because the means they used to achieve wealth were actually shortcuts and, in many instances, dishonest.

Perhaps you’ve read Napoleon Hill’s book Think and Grow Rich, often promoted as the book on becoming successful in business. But have you read the follow-up book, Grow Rich! With Peace of Mind? In this, his final book, Hill tried to balance the drive to riches with patience and spirituality. Too many of the subjects of his Think and Grow Rich hadn’t found that inner peace.

What does the world, or “Universe,” owe you because you believe some “secret of success?” How about—NOTHING! Have you become unhappy with your job, your daily life, your finances, because your dreams are bigger than all of those? Should the “Universe” accommodate your dreams—just because you have big goals?

Ah—“somewhere at the end of the rainbow”
lies my fortune, my pot of gold!”

Solomon is not talking about improving yourself daily so that you attract a better job or more wealth to yourself. He’s warning you about the lack of being content where you are now, being anxious to be rich as quickly as possible, driving that luxury sports car or living in that big house before you’ve established your financial base and career. This mentally even affects our friendships, because we feel we must mingle with “important people” who can advance our dreams.

In my thirties, when I started my own business, I figured I had 20 to 30 years to become rich…but I still rushed the process, wanting it all to happen quickly. So I took shortcuts, nothing illegal or what might hurt others, but methods that cost me money and health.

Now, in my late 60s, my time “to get rich” is much shorter. Yet, I’m more patient. I’m not concentrating on the outcome, the “riches” part. Rather, I’m working on the process, following the wisdom Proverbs. I deeply believe these principles will bring me financial soundness with peace of mind. And as I share my discoveries with others, they will be blessed too.

THE PROMISE: “He who works his land will have abundant food, but the one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.” Proverbs 28:19.

“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.” Proverbs 27:10.

The Thanksgiving season in many ways illustrates the above proverb. When we are grateful for the blessings we have now and have received in the past, we lessen our boasting. When we realize that so many of our blessings were not by our doing, we are thankful for others and for God.

Too many newscasters today refer to this day as “turkey day.” Is that what Thanksgiving has been reduced to—a plate of white and dark meat and some cranberry sauce? How pathetic! But many people today, by forgetting all the blessings they have, reduce their lives to satisfying their appetites today and boasting that they will have even more tomorrow. So many people want to think that everything they have they have been responsible for attracting into their lives. They owe no one, even God, nothing!

Certainly, I need to have hope for the future and trust that what I sow today will reap a rich harvest tomorrow. But I can’t predict that harvest, for there are storms, frost, drought, bugs and thieves. There is also life—and the end of life: “A time to be born and a time to die” (Ecclesiastes 3:2).

Even though that is the truth, how shall I face it? With dread and misery? Or with gratitude and praise? Even though I personally face many financial pressures right now, should I bow under them? I still have the ability and the hope of recovering from my losses and building up, step by step, my financial security. Yet, that is not what drives me to focus on Solomon’s Wisdom. It is the fact, by doing so, I’m following the right principles, no matter what tomorrow brings. That is not only all I can do, but also the best I can do.

Yesterdays—with thankfulness, I place in God’s hands. Tomorrows—He has not yet brought them to me. But today!

“This is the day the Lord has made;
we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalms 118:24

No boasting there on our part. Just thankfulness. And that’s what today is all about, no matter kind of “turkeys” enter our lives.

THE PROMISE: “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; someone else, and not your own lips.” Proverbs 27:2.

[Here are two happy 'kids' at the pumpkin patch--my daughter-in-law Aletha and my grandson Connor. We can be thankful for our families too.]

“Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes.” Proverbs 26:4-5.

I’m encouraged when, from the same wise man, I find proverbs that seem to disagree with each other. It shows the difficulty sometimes of pinpointing challenges we face and giving counsel in one pithy sentence.

You meet a “fool” who expounds ignorantly about his tightly held beliefs. What do you do? Ignore him, or you might wind up spending a lot of time trying to change him without success. But wait! Solomon also says to answer him, or the fool will go away convinced that his ignorant ways are wisdom.

We’ve recently had the presidential and vice-presidential debates. All participants seemed wise, or at least knowledgeable. And often they disagreed with each other. Many of the issues were political or historical, not moral issues.

So you can have a wise person trying to change the mind of another wise person; or, in debates, trying to convince the listeners. But there were some basic moral issues that weren’t addressed clearly. I believe in the next four to eight years those will come to the forefront dramatically.

I used to pride myself on being a dissector of weak or false arguments. Why did I love to debate? For building myself up. Solomon says I was joining the fool in his folly by indulging in this contest of ideas and words. At the least, it was a waste of time that I could’ve spent in more productive ways.

Other times, though, especially in moral issues, the wise man has to correct a fool’s statements, particularly for the sake of listeners. Our world is increasingly becoming one of “relative truth—what’s true for you may not be true for others.” That in itself is a foolish statement—because there is “true truth” which should not be allowed to be interpreted by fools as meaning something else.

A lot of people don’t like Solomon’s Proverbs, or anything else in the Bible. They just hate to have to conform to “someone else’s truth,” even if it might have come from a Divine Source and has been tested by thousands of years of practical experience.

But I feel life here is too short to have to re-learn wisdom entirely from my own search and experience. I tried that too much with my business. Our world today has tried it with “creative accounting and financing.” When we do that, the initial thrust of new ways might bring some initial amazing success—and then the collapse comes. It has to—because we live in a universe of unswerving principles. “A man reaps what he sows.”

THE PROMISE: “Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” Proverbs 26:12.

“Like an earring of gold or an ornament of fine gold is a wise man’s rebuke to a listening ear.” Proverbs 25:12.

When I went to work for an advertising agency as a fundraising copywriter, I thought it would be a breeze. After all, I was an award-winning published author, and had dozens of TV scripts produced. I had made a fairly good living as a freelance writer for a number of years.

Was I in for a surprise! My writing style was more literary than copywriting demanded. I had to change and “learn the ropes.” Fortunately, I had a patient and astute mentor in Bob Screen, the Creative Director. When he got through my writing projects with his #2 pencil, they looked like flowcharts for a whitewater rafting trip on the Colorado!

But I respected Bob’s experience and appreciated his professionalism. So I listened carefully, revised…and revised sometimes a dozen or more times. I never defended my “style.”

After several years working for Bob, I became a better writer, more direct and able to communicate from the heart. I believe what I got was equivalent, and in fact better than, what I would’ve learned in any college—and I got paid for it quite well.

What Bob gave me was an “ornament of fine gold” that I was able to invest many times over in my own business and in my personal and professional communications.

For this proverb to become workable, you need both a wise teacher (boss?) and a learner with receptive ears. Now, not all of your “teachers” will be as kind and patient as Bob was with me. Some of them may be quite direct and harsh—I’ve had a few of those! Sometimes when we’re criticized, we may feel our work is being rejected. And just maybe it is—and rightly so.

Here’s a guideline that I’ve used to help me change where necessary—“What is there for me to learn in this that is not immediately apparent?” In other words, what can I take from this encounter, either complimentary or painful, that will help me become better at what I’m meant to do and be in life?

Perhaps you are or will become an expert teacher in some area. You are the one offering the “ornament of fine gold” to a learner. Just keeping that image in mind will help you to do with gratitude for what you have to offer and with kindness toward your student.

THE PROMISE: “Like the coolness of snow at harvest time is a trustworthy messenger to those who send him; he refreshes the spirit of his masters.” Proverbs 25:13.

“Do your planning and prepare your fields before building your house.” Proverbs 24:27, New Living Translation:

Many of us, including moi, have mortgaged our future—and those five or ten or even 30 years of future obligations are compressing into now, today, the present. That is not good for our financial stability and our positive forward look. We use up the future before it comes!

Solomon gave us advice that we’ve ignored to our detriment. The whole credit industry promised us that we could “have it all now”—with hardly any mention of increasing our obligations to the point where our financial security collapses. Now, with “bailouts,” it’s not enough to mortgage our future; we also obligate our children and grandchildren to assume those debts.

When should we “build our house”? I remember in Manitoba how many start-up farmers built temporary housing, sometimes the garage first or just the basement of a would-be house, even a one-room mud-and-stick hut. Then they concentrated on building the barn and working the fields.

[Here is a photo of a North Dakota sod house, still intact in 1986. Not exactly something you could get a 15 or 30-year mortgage on!]

Automobiles were not a priority. We drove the old farm truck, or even the tractor, into town or the general store. Sometimes it was horses and wagon.

For decades in today’s world, our priorities placed comforts before income production: a new car, financed for five or six years; an elaborate wedding that costs thousands; entertainment before necessities; and the house before “the fields.” It’s been this over-extension of housing investment that has been the driving force in today’s financial collapse.

Businesses have fallen prey to the same mentality. Ten years ago we saw the collapse of many internet and telecommunications companies who had expanded beyond their abilities—again, depending on future earnings to bill them out. It didn’t work out then, it won’t work out now. Today, we see the same collapse with financial institutions, home builders, auto builders, etc.

It’s not too late for our world to follow Solomon’s advice. And not too late for you and me.

THE PROMISE: “By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures.”

“While dining with a ruler, pay attention to what is put before you. If you are big eater, put a knife to your throat; don’t desire all the delicacies, for he might be trying to trick you.” Proverbs 23:1-2, New Living Translation.

While traveling today, my wife Martha and I stopped for lunch at a casino that featured a buffet. It was lunch time, so we stopped. And for only $10 each, we had our pick of any or all of about 10 salads, 20 entrees, side dishes and dozens of deserts.

Two faults I generally fall into before a buffet or a church potluck table. (1) Get my money’s worth (or more); and (2) taste everything and take more of what is really good.

“A little more of this, a little more of that, some more of this, some more of that—that’s how we get fat fat fat!”

Of course, our control over our food choices is very important for our health and self-control. If we can control our appetite, that is basic to controlling most of our desires. What great advice Solomon gives us in this regard!

My paraphrase: “Don’t desire all the good stuff set before you. Just because it tastes good, even if it’s healthy for you, don’t eat too much of a good thing. King World will tempt you with more, more, more. If you’re tempted to over-indulge, imagine a knife at your throat, a symbol of the disaster you could be facing. Live simply—that’s the way to control King World instead of having him control you.”

When I started rising to the top as a distributor for a health company, I fell into the trap of wanting more than I needed. Not just things like bonus cars, bonus checks and free vacations, but recognition and achievement even more so. What did I wind up with? The cars were mostly used for more work; the checks for promotion, and the vacations for meetings with “the leaders.”

So I devoted more and more time and effort, spent more promotional money, said no to a lot of fun times with my family. In short, I did what some motivational experts tell us to do: Pay the price.

Yes, I regret the imbalance that kind of buffet table tempted me with; I got a severe case of indigestion that only now am I overcoming. But thank God, with the help of Solomon’s Wisdom, I am turning all that around.

THE PROMISE: “Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.” Proverbs 23:4-5.

Proverbs 22:13: “The sluggard says, ‘There is a lion outside! Or, “I will be murdered in the streets.

Hey, that fellow speaks for me!

There are dangers in this world, and a proper place for fear (if it means being prepared and careful rather than freezing up). But the sluggard uses the remote possibility of danger to avoid meeting life. He’d rather hole up in the safety of his house. Although I suspect that if he had to work at home, he’d say, “The roof might cave in! I can’t stay in here and work!”

Countless times the imagined lions of rejection, daily tasks, difficulty in working on a project, roared at me…and I gave up my diligence. I procrastinated until the lions went back into the forest. Sometimes they took a long time doing so.

Difficulties, real or imagined, are adventures to the diligent and detours to the fearful and slothful. I’ve been on those detours, and it takes a lot of introspection, prayer and courage to get out of that state. I begin with little steps. I open the door, often with one hand on the doorknob. I finally enter the street…and I hear lions roaring. I want to flee back indoors.

There are travelers already on the street. They yell back at me: “There are no lions! And if there are, they will flee when you roar back at them. Come on out! You can conquer your fear! Step out in faith—don’t be lazy!”

Motivational lectures about positive thinking and laws of success are fine—but they often lack the power to change our nature. Where is the power? In a force greater than our nature.

God has promised me: “You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent” (Psalm 91:13). But “tread” implies that I have to take some steps.

God, can’t you take those steps for me? Can’t you do it all for me?

No child would learn to walk if his parents carried him everywhere all the time.

And there’s the secret of Solomon’s Wisdom. Step out into life’s streets. Start walking. Move toward the “lions.” Remember, in much of the world there’s a greater possibility of the roof collapsing on you than a lion eating you!

And that’s what I’ve been feeling—like the roof crumbling on me. So, out I go to the lions!

THE PROMISE: “Pay attention and listen to the savings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach, for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips.”Proverbs 22:17-18.

Proverbs 21:26: Some people are always greedy for more, but the godly love to give!”

There are many verses in Proverbs 21 that could apply to the woman below. But how do these proverbs apply to me and my quest for all-around integrity? I’ll get to that. But first, why pick on Hetty Green, possibly “the world’s stingiest woman”?

In the late 1800s in New York City this rich woman had millions in the bank, yet she dressed like a pauper. And her attitude toward life was as stingy as she was rich.

At age 30 Hetty Robinson inherited seven million dollars. During the next 50 years she cleverly manipulated investments until she was worth nearly $100 million. Enviable? Yes, if a meaningful life is about money. She was a genius at getting wealth, but a sloth at spending it for good.

At age 33 she married millionaire Edward Green. He lost his fortune to bad investments and the couple parted, leaving Hetty with two children. With her vast wealth, no problem, right? But Hetty’s life was about keeping money. She and her children lived in poverty, in cheap hotels, and ate meager meals.

Hetty wore the same dingy black dress every day and seldom washed the whole thing, just the bottom portion that touched the ground—saved on soap and water. When her son Ned injured his knee, she took him to a charity ward and wouldn’t pay the doctor. The doctor knew she was rich and refused to treat Ned for nothing. So, Hetty treated the boy herself, and in two years, the boy’s leg had to be amputated.

In days when a dollar would buy a lavish meal, what did Hetty eat? Often, she ate oatmeal warmed up on an office radiator. Or a ham sandwich stored in her skirt pockets.

One day in 1916, at age 81, Hetty argued heatedly with a storekeeper about the price for milk. She suffered a stroke and soon died. Her son Ned inherited her millions and spent much of them on extravagant parties, jewelry and yachts.

Money can’t buy happiness—especially if you hoard it.

All right, enough about Hetty Green? What about me? I don’t have millions of dollars to sit on. But does the word “greedy” apply to me in any way? Do the problems I face arise from that greed?

To me, money often was a symbol of my achievement or worth in comparison with others. And that’s one powerful force in getting unbalanced. I was a distributor in one health company where they listed the top ten leaders every month. I was usually number ten…and I wasn’t satisfied with that. I put in long hours, invested a lot of money in advertising, to get to number nine, and hopefully to eight, and so forth.

It wasn’t the money—but the honor I supposed it represented, the recognition of my abilities by others. No, I didn’t skimp on necessities and some pleasures like Hetty did, and I donated good amounts to others. But now I see that I didn’t love to give up any of my ego. I was greedy about that. I think, by meditating on Solomon’s Wisdom, I’m getting to the core of some of my personal issues. Frightening.

THE PROMISE: “All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart.” Proverbs 21:2.

Proverbs 20:23: “The Lord detests differing weights, and dishonest scales do not please him.”

I believe I’m a miniature picture of what’s happening in the financial world today. As I look at my financial history, from my teens to my 60s, I see many of the reasons for today’s collapsing economy.

The above proverb has to do with more than commercial scales. It’s about consistent honesty, following principles of integrity at all times and in all areas. If I’m a butcher, and my worst enemy comes to buy something, I’m not to cheat him by selling him fifteen ounces of steak for a pound’s price. I’m to treat him as fairly as I would my best friend.

That’s an example of the surface meaning. Deeper, though, is the principle of giving honest value in all areas of our life. It’s a moral principle, not just an economic one.

In fact, today’s economic collapse is mostly due to moral weaknesses, mainly greed and impatience. These have been at work for decades. In attempts to increase their value, CEOs of corporations took shortcuts to increased profits. They often did this by means that broke the scales and balances of business. Many politicians had to approve bills that aided these corporations to do so. After all, “the business of America is business,” said Calvin Coolidge in the 1920s.

So financial institutions multiplied their loans and credit cards, promising: “You can have it all; you can have it now!” How? By leveraging your future. How do you weigh your future realistically and honestly, for instance, in committing yourself to a 15- or 30-year mortgage on a house? Banks used to base their judgment on a client’s past and present performance. In the last few decades, they began to base their loan approval on a customer’s possible future performance. Today’s financial troubles show their misjudgment, often the result of their own greed and impatience. So financial companies go belly-up, followed by a multitude of other businesses.

My financial pressures today are mainly due to my same way of thinking. As I looked ahead to see my financial future, I’ve placed my thumb on the scale to give me a brighter picture. After many years, that “one or two ounces of cheating” every day can add up to a very large sum. When you have your own business, of course, you pay the price twice—as employer and employee.

BUT—I believe that following the Wisdom of Solomon can turn my world around. And it can do the same for today’s financial world. We’ve come to the place where there are no more shortcuts.

THE PROMISE: “Ears that hear and eyes that see—the Lord has made them both.” Proverbs 20:12.

Proverbs 19:20: “Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise.”

How do you tell the difference between sound advice from a wise teacher and that given by a person with an agenda of his own? An advisor might tell you what he thinks is best for you—so that he can profit.

That’s often the difficulty. Even advisors with college degrees and credentials could be wrong because they are placing their needs ahead of yours. How many insurance and cars sales people really think of your best choices rather than their commissions? Yes, there are some—but I believe they are not the majority.

So how can you and I tell? By first of all building our lives on wise principles. These involve ones that may not involve buying, selling, joining and promoting anything of monetary value. First, we need to more clearly discover who we are and who we’re meant to be in relationship to highest values. Then we have a better chance of rightly judging all the advice we get.

Today, I ask myself, am I wiser than last year? Than ten, twenty or forty years ago? After all, I’ve read a lot of books, listened to many self-development programs and teachers, and even written articles and books on the subject myself. I’ve always desired to know the best ways to be successful with integrity. But somewhere inside my being was a core weakness that exploited me time and again.

That weakness? My need to be richer and more successful than I needed to be. Wow! Just my stating that is both painful and freeing. Perhaps that need comes from my childhood, when my parents had to struggle to survive. At times we three boys went hungry and poorly clothed. Sometimes we had to work in the fields rather than going to school. But that’s enough about that, or I’ll start feeling sorry for myself all over again!

I also have much to be grateful for. I have opportunities to plant wisdom in my mind and to put those principles into practice. The fruit will grow from that planting. Before, I believe, I tried to force the growing, to hasten the riches, to gain recognition.

Now, just to follow the path of Wisdom will be enough, for she offers me the counsel of how to grow into an older, wiser person, and be a blessing rather than a burden. It’s more than advice—for I feel extra motivation I’ve seldom felt before, like the influence of a Higher Power.

THE PROMISE: “He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; he who cherishes understanding prospers.” Proverbs 19:8.