THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM

  1. What do we know? What do we learn?
    Why is the world? Why are we born?
    Who can explain all the ripples on the ocean,
    The joy of a birth, or the aching of a heart that's torn? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

  2. How do we see? How do we hear?
    Who made the light? Who made the sound? Creatures of clay, we are limited for answers, Here for a day, like the flowers we will fade away. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom

  3. What kind of god dies on a cross?
    Gasping for breath, a spear in his side?
    What kind of god has a face like any other,
    A heart that is full of compassion for a lonely child? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

  4. Fear is the start, love is the end.
    Now it's unclear, later we'll see.
    God, make me wise, let me treasure all you are,
    In the darkness of faith we can find your everlasting light. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom

Proverbs 9:10 was the basis of these thoughts. It's a text I still puzzle over. Fear is not quite right, nor is awe when we relate to God - at least I've never thought so. I think the phrase has to do with taking the reality of God seriously in our lives, and that if you do, the world starts to make sense. I was pleased to be able to include a line from Luther in the song: "in the darkness of faith ..."

 

ALWS 5/10/23

To say I've been inactive on my website is a serious understatement! I've written nothing here since early 2021. 

So, does this mean the world has stopped for us, that nothing is happening?
A major event for us in 2022 was moving house in October. We had been in Modbury Heights since July 1993.Now we're back in Klemzig.

In May we travelled to the Mentawai Islands in Indonesia, seeing work supported by Australian Lutheran World Service. Dorothy and I are Ambassadors for the ALWS programme, Lives You Touch. We are encouraging people to leave money in their will for the work of ALWS. We committed to leave a third of our will many years ago and hope many others can touch lives in this way.
Since then we have visited Box Hill & Loxton with Jonathan & Julie Krause as part of the Asante presentations, promoting the cause of ALWS. Still to come this year are Asante events in Toowoomba & Rochedale (Nov 26 & 27) and Perth (Dec 10)

Looking forward to seeing many people on these occasions.