Brian’s Reflection: Wednesday, January 16, 2008



Go and wake up your cook.

- Arab proverb



I love proverbs. I have always found the [Biblical] Book of Proverbs one of the most interesting things to read. Proverbs are a distillation of a people’s wisdom and experience.

Well I remember hearing about a Scottish neighbor of mine when I was a boy. Someone mentioned to her the proverb, “If you can’t remember what you were going to say, it must have been a lie.” She responded, in a strong Scots accent, backed by good Presbyterian upbringing, “Oh no; if it had been a lie, the devil would have helped you with it.”

“Go and wake up your cook.” Wonderful proverb. Life. We lie awake at night worrying. We procrastinate. We invent all kinds of scenarios about the outcome of things that make us afraid. We wonder if we are capable, or creative enough, or smart enough, or brave enough. Etc. Meanwhile becoming more and more paralyzed.

“Divine Grace” is an antidote for all this self-doubt. As is the proposition that we are “made in the image of God”. Whether you look without or within, Wisdom tells us to open ourselves to the Mystery, to trust, to take the first step along the path of whatever journey we long to make. We’ll get where we want to go.

Don’t hang back in doubt.

“Go and wake up your cook.”


Brian+