When Knowledge is Hated!

“Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me, since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD” (Proverbs 1:28,29 NIV).

How many people look back at their lives and reflect upon what happened to them when they were in school–elementary, middle school, high school, or college?

During my five-year tenure in jail ministry, most of the inmates admitted they wish they had paid attention to their teachers. They finally realized that not having sufficient knowledge on an academic level hindered their progress in society as adults, but they also realized that not listening to authority could only end in disaster. A number of the inmates witnessed their friends being shot or killed during the commission of a crime. They attended far too many funerals of those they had grown up with during their early years. Since my assignment for the jail ministry was the psychiatric ward, many had difficulties sorting out reality and understanding rational thinking. When faced with the inevitability of their actions, they were finally able to conclude that most of their problems stemmed from  the “hating knowledge” that either teachers had tried to impart or from others in authority.

When children rebel against parents because they don’t know think their parents know anything, discovery is soon made about the consequences of rebellion and it is usually not a pretty sight.

When those whom God loves choose to ignore Him and rebel against Him, the consequences  can be severe enough to sever a right relationship with Him, forever.

Hating knowledge and ignoring the wisdom of those in authority can only lead to paths of destruction, and some people never find the path back to right relationship.

The admonition Solomon gave to his son is still relevant today–if we continue to hate knowledge, wisdom will show us how God responds–when He’s not responding to us, or hearing us. Even when we look for Him, we will not find Him. A severed relationship with God can only lead to disaster which is why we must revere The Word of God and honor Him in all that we do.

Parents and other adults in authority should heed The Word of God in all their teachings to their children. Children should pay attention to the voices of authority in their lives and learn from the wisdom exhibited from God. Everyone should embrace wisdom and knowledge as God’s inherent love for us and His desire for us to succeed in life.

Remember, the reverential fear of The Lord is the beginning of wisdom and we should heed wisdom’s call in all things, learning as we go, accepting the fact that all knowledge from God is good.

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Yep! It’s Poetry Month!

In The Rabbit Hole
Mary M. Hall-Rayford © 2014

Raking the leaves, turning the soil,
I noticed the burrows dug deep,
But decided to stay on course with my plan,
To clean up the yard before the rain seeped,
Into the atmosphere, spreading across the land
Keeping me from my goal to beautify
All that anyone could see with the naked eye,
And enjoy the fruits of my labor and then,
Suddenly, I lost control of balance and
Started to sink in the hole, I had noticed,
But refused to think about then,
And now as I screamed for help from anyone
I discovered none heard, for no one was near
To my hear my heart-rend screeches or to see the tears
That flowed as I thought all was lost, but
Then I had to reflect about all I knew
About rabbit, whole and how they tasted in stew.

So I remembered Alice, and her plight in the same
And thought about what she might do
Against all odds, earthworms and grubs,
Dirt and stuff I could not even name
No wonder her journey, garnered such fame.

But I must not lose sight of my tale as it is,
May not bring glory and fame, but tis
The stuff whole novels abound with characters
Made in the quickness of thought,
And hopefully, many books will be bought
To see the end of this tale
That I now attempt to regale,
On a spring evening when all through the city
Everyone was busy, raking lawns and seeding
Not worrying about feeding the rabbits who
Waiting for someone to help them reach their goal
By falling in their hole,
Losing their minds and soon their souls,
To the depths of adventure that lie within,
Watch and see if I emerge with a grin,
Victorious in all things, until the very end.

 

Taryn–Excerpt from Trapped

When I moved into the first grade, there was no more play time in class, now all the play time took place outside on the playground.  While the girls were playing their games, I was playing tag and hide-and-seek with the boys.  One day, while we were playing, one of the boys asked me why I always played with them.

“Why?” I asked him.  “Is there something wrong with me playing with you?”

“No,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.  “I just wanted to know.”

I didn’t think any more about it until later that day when I got home and I decided to ask my dad about it.

“Dad, is there anything wrong with me playing with boys?”

“No, not if that’s what you want to do.  Why?”

“A boy at school asked me why I always played with them rather than the girls.”

“Are they bothered by your playing with them?” he asked, intently.

“I don’t know.  He just asked.”

I thought that ended the conversation, but then I noticed that my dad started doing things differently.  He bought fashion magazines home and dolls with wardrobes and silly girly pajamas.  When I asked him why he was doing all that stuff, he just smiled and said, “no reason.”  I didn’t think much more about it until he started sending me to spend time with my aunts more often than usual.  That was okay with me—their kids had lots of cool stuff to play with and I could even beat one their sons wrestling.

It wasn’t until I was in the second grade that I knew something was different about me.  On the outside I was a girl, but I wasn’t interested in any of the girl stuff.  I wasn’t sitting around giggling about boys or the silly things they did; I didn’t want to do things with them. One day when we were outside on the jungle-gym, I climbed to the top and one of the girls asked me if I knew that my panties could be seen.  I was horrified!  It had never occurred to me that I shouldn’t climb things while wearing a dress.  After all, my dad spent a great deal of time picking the dresses out for me.  I climbed down, petrified that the boys I had been playing with would laugh.  One snickered, the others just looked away.  When I got home that day, I told my dad I never wanted to wear a dress again. He asked me why and I told him what happened.  While I was talking, his face puzzled—crinkled with indecision and concern.  He told me not to worry about it and he would buy me more pants.

When I came home the following day, Dad had gone shopping for pants, but they all zipped on the side.  I wanted pants with a fly.  I didn’t know why, I just wanted pants that looked like the other boys’ pants. My tantrum about the pants brought us both to a new awareness.  I didn’t want to be girl; I wanted to be a boy.  Not knowing what else to do, he sat on my bed staring at the picture of my mother.  I didn’t know what to say, so I just waited.  He looked toward the ceiling, tears flowing down his face and he said, “I’m sorry, Elena, I did the best I could without you.”