Last week, I presented a class on Proverbs at the Summit conference hosted by Abilene Christian University. I’ll post content from this class in the next two blogs, thus “completing” an appendix to the newly released book, A Life that is Good: The Message of Proverbs for a World Wanting Wisdom (Eerdmans).

Today, I share my favorite proverbs from participant submissions during class and make three observations. Several of these were read during class and several others were not (original authors are credited in parenthesis when known). Relax a moment and enjoy these sayings, first without and then with my comments:

God takes care of idiots and missionaries. (R. Rogers)

If you are going to drink coffee,
drink it black.

If you are going to smoke,
smoke cigs without filters.

He who sits on a tack is better off.

If a candy costs $50 and you only have $49,
you can’t afford it.

Experience is what you get,
when you ain’t got none.

If it’s doubtful,
then it’s not clean.

Haba kwa haba hujaza kibaba. (Swahili)

Ca Canny w’the Butter! (Irish [?])

Now, the same proverbs with a little explanation (Expl.):

God takes care of idiots and missionaries. (R. Rogers)

(Expl.): Let’s face it: missionaries have to be a bit crazy to leave home and family for a world they do not know. May God bless them.

If you are going to drink coffee
drink it black.

If you are going to smoke,
smoke cigs without filters.

(Expl.): These two proverbs speak of transparency or integrity. If people see you drinking coffee, then you should be drinking coffee and not some sugary, watered down, so-called “coffee” (so too with cigarettes). What people see in your life should reflect who you are or what you do.

He who sits on a tack is better off.

(Expl.): Stop and/or avoid practices that inflict harm on yourself.

If a candy costs $50 and you only have $49,
you can’t afford it.

(Expl.): It doesn’t matter how much money you have. If the object you desire costs more, it’s too much.

Experience is what you get
when you ain’t got none.

(Expl.): We learn from experience; it is our teacher. So if we don’t have experience, the only way we will learn or gain experience is to act.

If it’s doubtful,
then it’s not clean.

(Expl.): If you hold up a washed shirt to the light and you are not sure if it’s clean (doubtful), then it’s not clean.

Haba kwa haba hujaza kibaba. (Swahili)

Translation: Little by little, the pot is filled.

(Expl.): Success comes from slow consistent work.

Ca Canny w’the butta’! (Irish [?])

(Expl.) Butter (“butta’”) is expensive, so go easy or light with the butter.

Now, three observations about how these (and other) proverbs function:

1. Notice how these proverbs engage our imagination and memory: the repetition or play on sound, humor, or logic that traps or catches us.

2. This engagement is especially dependent on our understanding of a proverb’s culture of origin. Not only must foreign proverbs be translated (thus losing any play on sound), they often must be explained. And like a joke, once we explain a proverb—it loses its power.

3. Some of these proverbs make simple observations without any moral judgment (God cares for missionaries, we learn from experience). Others, however, promote moral or ethical ideas and suggest what a person should do (live with transparency or integrity, get away from harmful practices, work consistently, be careful with your money and budget wisely). In other words, some proverbs are descriptive and others prescriptive; some describe the world in which we live, while others teach how we should live—and sometimes a proverb does both.

These concepts, which we shared in class, are developed more fully in “the book” (A Life that is Good, pp. 66-81). In our next blog, however, we will move beyond “the book” to what I missed or failed to cover from Proverbs.

Until then,

Glenn