Pithy (Part One)

Short. Sweet. To the point.

Wisdom: once found the prudent want more,

adding to what they already have (Prov 10.14).

A pithy collection of pithy statements from my pithy Facebook quotes since January 2016:

Words & Communication

Words, because of their ability to injure, should be employed with careful preparation, practice, and skill. Wisdom suggests limited use.

Literature explores the great questions of authority, ethics, mortality, knowledge, and meaning; signposts pointing toward truth.

Politics. Whatever our our point of view we should depend on transcendent principles of truth rather than a go-to-news-source to inform our decisions.

The presence of books in a house announces “Words are honored here.”

History brings ideas, impacting words, directing individuals, creating institutions, infiltrating cultures. Usurping cultures then rewrite history.

Creation & Culture

Culture can be cultivated or it will cultivate us. Either we tend to our culture with nurture and care or the culture will plow us under.

A culture which creates its own definitions acknowledges no authority but itself.

Creation-ordered logic is lost on a culture of self-centered emotion.

Coercion. Is “political correctness” just another, newer form of power and privilege?

Technology. We need to be careful in our use of technology we do not forget our theology. Why we do anything should inform what we do.

Right & Wrong

“Virtue” is the sum of all positive human qualities, is the result of internal change, a life transformed.

Being wrong: if we never think we could be, we already are.

“Right” and “wrong.” Human standards fail. Ethical decision making depends on a source outside ourselves.

Two most important questions about information: (1) What is the source? (2) Who controls how we receive it?

“Injustice” does not exist unless there is “justice.” Without a standard to interpret ethics, ethics are meaningless.

Views & Mindset

Criticism. Imagine yourself on the receiving end, then decide if you still want to give it.

Expectations. We tend to lower them for ourselves but want everyone else to meet ours.

Every set of lenses we use to interpret our world will also be the blinders which cause us to miss another view of our world.

When someone says “Where do we go from here?” it is good to be clear about the starting point (here) that gets to the finish line (where)

Attention to what is unseen helps us make sense of what we see.

Unity & Community

Asking others questions about themselves builds community, friendship, and humility.

Toleration. Honesty, carefulness, & kindness appraise problems with ideas, not people; challenging a belief, loving the person.

“Consensus” or majority opinion-without a common foundation of Truth–restricts freedom of ideas, eventually excluding all who disagree.

People like to say “love is the answer” but refuse to divulge where or from whom that love originates. We are compelled either by God’s love or human love. The first saves us, the second, unless driven by the first, enslaves us.

“Aphorisms” are some of both Mark’s favorite words. Short, sweet, succinct statements gain attention, cause deep thinking, prompt further questions, and develop a wise mindset. Dr. Mark Eckel is president of The Comenius Institute and will be teaching “Wisdom” as an adult Sunday class at his church this fall.