“He who walks with the wise will be wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm."
~Prov. 13:20
Clay and I sought to feed the minds, hearts and souls of our children on all that was wise, excellent, thoughtful, Biblical, and eternal. We tried to fill the treasure chests of their souls with the best, so when they needed to draw from that reservoir over the rest of their lives, they would find wisdom, depth, and knowledge there.
This was intentional--to establish our children’s foundations on wisdom. Consequently, our own minds were set to find wisdom and to share it. Owning the stewardship of our children's minds sharpened our own minds. It was a grid from which we lived life--to share, teach, instruct, read, think, cultivate, and nurture wisdom.
I see the principle here again of, what one sows, he reaps.
Our family is spread far and wide now, but as often as possible we spend time just talking, being friends, and discussing life and ideas as we always have. Now of course, it is mostly as peers and close friends, not just as parent and child.
So, when pondering aloud to my family, how to make life more simple, how to set boundaries, how to continually restore and refresh so that I can have something in my own soul from which others may draw, my son shared this quote that he has been pondering from his own reading:
"To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything, is to succumb to the violence of our times." — Thomas Merton
Not only have I been taking this quotation to heart, trying to figure out just what it means in my own life, but I have also seen how much my children are a channel of wisdom for me. They gained the habit of thinking, reading, pondering, and gathering wisdom in contrast to the voices of the world which surround them--and now they have become counselors to me. Their minds feed my mind now. Their deep thoughts guide me.
Sowing wisdom and seeking to fill the very air we breathed with wisdom for so many years not only fed my soul, but educated those who would become my own counselors.
What does this quotation Joel shared say to me personally, I wonder? How have I allowed myself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to want to help everyone in everything, to commit to too many projects? In other words, how have I succumbed to the violence of my times--the violence of overcommitment?
Daily still, I seek the wisdom of counselors who can help guide my life, and now, it ends up, they live in my very own home.