Like a thornbush in a drunkard's hand is a proverb in the mouth of a fool (Proverbs 26:9).

The 26th chapter of Proverbs is one of my personal favorites.  It's full of graphic, vivid, wildly-descriptive word-pictures demonstrating the full spectrum of Proverbial wisdom.  There's some true comedic entertainment value in this chapter, if you really give it a good listen!

But verse 9 definitely sobers me up, when it comes to the application and communication of the Proverbs' wisdom for 21st Century context.  I realize that I need to keep this verse firmly in mind throughout the course of my Proverbs 365 campaign -- least I fall into the role of the fool, wildly brandishing my "thornbush of wisdom" with the precision of an angry washed-up drunk.

You see, the Proverbs really do have power.  They tap into deep, God-given wisdom -- and that's some pretty incredible stuff.  But if it's not handled with skill -- or at least with some degree of caution -- it can be highly dangerous, like a toddler with an assault rifle.  Let's just briefly consider Proverbs 18:9, for example.  If you said, "One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys" to a 35-year-old bachelor, living rent-free with his parents and spending his days playing video games in the basement, it might feel a bit critical or challenging -- but probably in a good-way... But if you said, "One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys" to a young family-man who just lost his job a week previously and who was still working through some depression about the whole thing while building up his courage and his resources to go out job-hunting -- well, the quote will probably not have the desired effect (assuming that it was intended as a positive challenge) and it will probably not serve as a relationally-building moment...

We can cause a lot of pain to others if we go about foolishly quoting Proverbs to everyone we meet, without some degree of consideration for audience, timing, and placement of such Proverbial wisdom.  And in addition to hurting others, we can also do a lot of damage to ourselves.  I mean, think about it:  If a drunk guy is swinging around a thornbush -- who's probably going to get the most pokes, scratches, and gouges out of the deal, ultimately?  Will it be our friends and families who are likely to scatter to the four winds when they see us start out on a rampage?  Or will we be hurting ourselves more than anything?  Truth is it's actually both.  But as you can see, it's worthwhile to consider what poorly-considered Proverbial wisdom can do.

I'm trying to keep an eye on this, as I continue going through this Proverbs 365 project.  But could you please let me know if and when it ever starts to feel like a drunkard with a thornbush?  Hopefully, it'll never get to that point.  But if it does, let's just say that our "safe word" is "Thornbush."  A simply one-word comment on the blog.  Or a one-word e-mail message.  A simple one-word utterance under the breath.  I hope that would be enough to check me.  And keep a whole lot of other people safe in the process as well :-)