November 10, 2010 – Sirach 6

Verse 6 fits me to a tee.  I know a lot of people, but I don’t have a lot of really close friends or at least people that I share things with.  Then on the other hand, I give talks and write this blog so that there aren’t a lot of secrets to me.  I think Michelle sometimes wonders why I share things about myself so readily, yet sometimes find it hard to share things on a more personal level.  I think sometimes I worry about the skeletons that may be in my closet and if I talk about them openly they aren’t as worrisome or they are not in the closet anymore.  We are always fearful of the scary things that hide in the closet, but I think that is because we don’t know when they are going to come out.  If we don’t keep them in the closet, then we control them to an extent.  But I do feel there is a strange contradiction in me because I feel free enough to talk about very personal things in talks I give yet I don’t trust a lot of people to share things with them individually.  I don’t know why that is. 

The second part of this is about discipline and describing her on a personal level as someone we need to strive to be close to.  The world today teaches us the exact opposite and that we need to act on every impulse and to deny ourselves of anything is to suppress our feelings and cause us harm.  Look at what you gain from discipline.  Find wisdom, await her bountiful crops, you will learn.  We are told to stoop and carry her, put her yoke on our neck.   Discipline is the only way to truly learn things.  We learn nothing by doing whatever we want.  We gain nothing by being handed everything we need on a silver platter.  Without discipline, everything is unruly.  Do not so easily cast aside discipline when you run into her, for without her you will never gain knowledge and wisdom.