Proverbs Experiment: Day Twenty-Eight

Nearing the end...

Proverbs Chapter 28:

When there is moral rot within a nation, its government topples easily. But with wise and knowledgeable leaders, there is stability. (vs. 2)

I used to get Time magazine - dropped it because it's not a necessary item - thankfully, my father-in-law gets it, and when they came to visit us for Christmas, he left a few of them. One of my favorite issues every year is the "List" issue. This year's list issue included the top 10 scandals this year. There were some celebrity ones of course, but the ones that always intrigue me the most are the political scandals. Two that were mentioned were the Eliot Spitzer "madame escort" scandal that cost the New York governor his job; and the one that has hit the news quite a bit lately, with the governor of Illinois trying to sell Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder. Unfortunately, in Illinois, I guess this isn't a new thing with governors; the one before the present one had a staff full of corruption and problems.

Some people may say that morality doesn't have anything to do with legislative or governor ability, but according to this verse, it does.

Young people who obey the law are wise; those who seek out worthless companions bring shame to their parents. (vs. 7)

This proverb reminds me of all the athletes that have been in the news this last year - Michael Vick, Cedric Benson (surprisingly, the Bengals picked him up - okay, no surprise there), Pacman Jones, and now Plaxico Burress - because of incredibly stupid decisions. One of the problems with these athletes is that they have surrounded themselves with people who they think are their friends, but really they are just leeches who either want to get their money, or they may be childhood friends who continue to drag their friend down with them. The companions that some of these guys hang out with are most certainly worthless, and I'm sure that when the athlete gets in trouble, their "friends" abandon ship and find someone else to feed off of.

When the wicked take charge, people hide. When the wicked meet disaster, the godly multiply. (vs. 28)

I just read a story about a man who escaped one of North Korea's prison camps - supposedly, he has been the only one who has escaped and live to tell about it. There are thousands of North Koreans who have fled their country into China and South Korea because of the wickedness of their government. This man, who now lives in South Korea, was born in a prison camp, watched his mother die by hanging, had one of his fingers cut off because he dropped a sewing machine at age 14, and has burns all over his body by being tortured. He has no money, his refugee money from South Korea has run out. He has printed something like 5000 copies of his story, about 500 have sold. He doesn't understand what it means to be loved or have goals in his life or anything. I just don't understand how this kind of stuff happens in our world today. As we become more and more "civilized," it looks like the world is becoming more and more cruel.