“Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom” — choosing the grey area over cancel culture
Plus: Bruce Lee, 51 years later
I wonder if there has ever been a time in which black-and-white thinking ruled as broadly as it does now. Cancel culture is in full effect all across the ideological spectrum — from woke to truther and everything in between.
Translation: Way too many people will only listen to someone who marches in lockstep with them.
Meanwhile, I ask you to consider the Book of Proverbs — written primarily by King Solomon. One of King David’s 19 sons, Solomon is considered to be the smartest man who ever lived.
His proverbs include:
“As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.” (Proverbs 27:17)
“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18)
“It is a trap to dedicate something rashly and only later to consider one’s vows.” (Proverbs 20:25)
“Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom” (Proverbs 11:2).
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” (Proverbs 4:23)
I could go on… and on. There are about 900 proverbs in the Bible! But let’s get to the point. Solomon had intelligence and wisdom — but he sorely lacked discernment.
Rather than honor the word of God, Solomon took 700 wives and 300 concubines from locations all over the Middle East. He frequently practiced sacrilege by worshipping the false gods of these women’s kinspeople.
One of his 700 wives was none other than the daughter of Egypt’s Pharaoh. Yes, the same nation that once enslaved Solomon’s people. Adding to this hypocrisy, Solomon used Israelites as [wait for it] forced labor to build his temple.
In his lifetime, King Solomon (through various means) accumulated vast amounts of earthly wealth. Some estimates put his net worth at $2.1 trillion in today’s money.
He violated all of God’s commandments but also reminded us of essential wisdom like: “Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but helping the poor honors Him.” (Proverbs 14:31)
Can we learn from Solomon’s proverbs without admiring the man himself? Absolutely yes.
Can we do this today instead of practicing cancel culture? Absolutely yes.
What is required for us to resist groupthink hive minds and knee-jerk reactions? Our most divine wisdom can emerge when we occupy grey-area thinking.
Until we do this, we’ll remain in a stagnant, diabolical environment of, well… just take a good look around.
Today marks the 51st anniversary of Bruce Lee’s shocking death. Here’s what I posted last year to mark the date:
I am a free subscriber to many Substacks but don’t have the time to read more than a couple. To rescue my email inbox from overload, I have been temporarily unsubscribing from some of these publications.
This is nothing personal and I trust you’ll understand if I stop receiving your work for now. Thank you…
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Great advice Mickey.
With 31 chapters of Proverbs, they offer a great way to get in a rhythm for daily meditation. A friend suggested this to me recently.
I read the bible every day (John MacArthur's Daily Bible) and loved this proverb....
"The exercise of justice is joy for the righteous, but is terror to the workers of iniquity." Pr 21:15