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The
Balanced Perspective of a Wise Man
Agur, son of Jakeh,
was a wise man. His wisdom
and balanced perception is clearly revealed in his simple prayer to God:
‘Two things I ask of you, O Lord; do not refuse me before I
die:
-
Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
-
give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my
daily bread.
Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, “Who
is the Lord?” Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonour the name of
my God.’
(Proverbs 30:7-9)
It seems clear that
Agur was a man who sought after
truth. He observed nature, and it made
him ask questions about life’s values and principles. He also wanted to be someone who
expressed and lived the truth.
He recognised the
dangers of extremes and the need for
balance. Unlike so many today, caught up in
corporate and personal greed - including those who greedily use the Gospel
for personal gain - Agur recognised the subtle danger of too much wealth
leading to further greed and self-glorification. When this occurs God gets shoved
aside, and maybe even right out of a person’s life. Agur wanted to keep God in the
rightful place in his life.
He wisely noted
that too extreme a poverty can lead to theft, which may then be justified
as survival - but which ends up dishonouring God.
All he wanted was
enough for the day. Not too
much - not too little, but just enough.
In his words of
wisdom (Proverbs chapter 30)
Agur also expresses his concern and
compassion for the poor and
needy.
Many centuries
later Jesus, the Christ,
taught his followers to pray for their daily bread, and he revealed the
need to keep things balanced - to first seek God and put their trust in
him (not accumulation of wealth or possessions), and to focus on living
one day at a time (see Matthew
chapter 6)
Jesus practiced
what he preached. His
possessions were few, but enough.
He kept a balance between extremes, and he expressed his compassion
for others in word and action.
One of his
well-known Apostles, Paul,
also discovered these truths - and acknowledged that he had learned the
secret of a balanced life of contentment - he was never too rich to think
he didn’t need God, nor so poor that he felt he had to steal to survive. He expressed it with poignant
clarity:
‘I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need,
and I know what it is to have plenty.
I have learned the secret of being content in any and every
situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in
want. I can do everything
through him who gives me strength.’ (Philippians 4:11b-13)
Nearer to our own
time was George Washington Carver,
known affectionately as the
‘Peanut Man’ and
‘Plant Doctor.’
George W. Carver
was born a black African American slave in 1864 or 1865. Kidnapped by slave raiders;
separated from his mother during the kidnapping (she may have been killed - nothing was ever heard
from or about her after the kidnapping); never having known his real
father (believed to be a slave from a neighbouring plantation who was
killed in a accident around the time of George’s birth), the young, weak and sickly George
was eventually returned to his mother’s (and his) owner, Moses Carter. Moses Carter and his wife, Susan,
brought up George and his older brother Jim, as their own children. (Jim
died of smallpox in 1883.)
Due to his frailty
and frequent illness George was spared the heavier duties of plantation
and farming life. Instead of hard work in the fields, he spent a lot of
time indoors, helping Susan with household chores - learning to cook,
laundry, and mend clothes.
He also learnt to read and write at home. Between chores he found time
to wander out in the fields and forest where he became fascinated with
nature. He had an insatiable desire for knowledge, especially about the
natural world. He became
skilled in dealing with plants, and collected all sorts of natural
specimens. As a boy he gained
the nickname, ‘Plant Doctor’, as a result of his natural skills in helping
plants thrive and grow.
He struggled with
prejudice against ‘blacks’ - even amongst many Christians. As a result he could not attend
the nearby school, and so left home at about the age of 10 to find a
school that would accept him. He supported himself by doing chores and
continued his quest for education.
He faced opposition and rejection, but persisted. He also committed his life to
Christ at about the age of 10.
Through the highs
and lows his Christian faith, and the encouragement of Christian friends,
enabled him to keep going. By
the time he accepted a faculty position at Booker T. Washington’s Tuskegee
Normal and Industrial Institute for Negroes (Tuskegee Institute - now
Tuskegee University) in Alambama, he had became a competent debater;
excelled in art, music and poetry;
had been a college campus military regimental Captain; had been
involved in football and athletics; had shown teaching skills, and had
gained his Master’s Degree in Botany.
At Tuskegee he
worked hard to improve the conditions and livelihood of his fellow African
Americans - as well white farmers and the poor and needy generally.
Years of farming
cotton crops had impoverished the soil on most farms in the South. Then the boll weevil virtually
destroyed what remained of the depleted cotton crops.
George Washington
Carver helped introduce soil enrichment programmes, crop rotation and
alternative crops. He
particularly worked on the peanut and helped to uncover enormous potential
for it as a valued crop with all sorts of potential for extra products. He ultimately developed some 325
products from peanuts; 108 uses for sweet potatoes; 75 products from the
pecan, and a wide range of products and uses from the soybean. His synthetic products and
industrial applications from a range of some 28 different plants are well
over 100 and include everything from adhesives, axle grease, bleach, milk,
flour, dyes, ink, linoleum, to mayonnaise, shoe polish, shaving cream,
talcum powder, wood filler, and more.
Part of his secret
was that he constantly talked to God and asked for his help in uncovering
the hidden treasures in plants and other things of nature.
George W. Carver
was a writer, speaker and story teller.
One of his popular stories (of which there are apparently various
versions in many sources) is the one where he asked God why he made the
peanut:
‘I asked God, “Why did you make the universe, Lord?”
“Ask for something more in proportion to that little mind
of yours,” replied God.
“Why did you make the earth, Lord?” I asked.
“Your little mind still wants to know far too much. Ask for
something more in proportion to that little mind of yours,” replied God.
“Why did you make man, Lord?” I asked.
“Far too much. Far too much. Ask again,” replied God.
“Explain to me why you made plants, Lord,” I asked.
“Your little mind still wants to know far too much.”
“The peanut?” I asked meekly.
“Yes! For your modest proportions I will grant you the
mystery of the peanut. Take
it inside your laboratory and separate it into water, fats, oils, gums,
resins, sugars, starches and amino acids.
Then recombine
these under my three laws of compatibility, temperature and pressure. Then
you will know why I made the peanut.”’
He believed his
ideas and inventions came to him as gifts from God (actually he spent many
hours in research and work himself).
In spite of all his many inventions, by-products and recipes, he
only ever registered three patents. His response was:
‘God gave them to me; how can I sell them to someone else?’
Though he sought
salary raises at the Tuskegee Institute, when he was offered much larger
salaries to work for Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, he chose to remain
working at the Tuskegee Institute to improve the quality of life for the
struggling, poor and needy.
His response was:
‘If I took that money, I might forget my people.’
Throughout his
life George W. Carver remained single - he was married to his cause and
his Christ. When he died on
January 5, 1943, he left his estate of some $33,000 to the Tuskegee
Institute where it was used to establish an agricultural research
foundation.
A statement that
has become linked to George Washington Carver, almost as a lasting
epitaph, is well worth some thoughtful consideration today:
‘It is not the style of clothes one wears, neither the kind
of automobile one drives, nor the amount of money one has in the bank,
that counts. These mean nothing. It is simply service that
measures success.’
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