Whoever corrects a scoffer wins abuse; whoever rebukes the wicked gets hurt.
Oh, to learn such a simple lesson. I have a deep, almost unalienable right, to be correct. After all of these years, I’ve finally recognized this, which I suppose is the first step to recovery. Some of this insight comes from the Enneagram, an ancient tool used to help identify personality types, and each type’s challenges. I don’t think the Enneagram defines me, but I do think it helps me understand a little more about myself. If interested, search for Enneagram test and there are plenty free online.
In any case, I’m an Enneagram Type 1, which one site defines as “Ones are conscientious and ethical, with a strong sense of right and wrong. They are teachers, crusaders, and advocates for change: always striving to improve things, but afraid of making a mistake”. Yup. There are plenty of nuances with Enneagram that help provide further insight but this one is pretty spot on for me. The end result is that I am that person who corrects a scoffer or rebukes the wicked, and what the Proverb suggests as the outcome – abuse and hurt – is my experience. You’d think that I’d learn to stop doing that.
It's intriguing to me that sometimes I learn best when I read something that is so apparently true, but that I’ve experienced all along. Whether it’s a personality type test or Proverbs, sometimes we need to have someone else spell out the blinding flash of the obvious. When we read it, all of a sudden it sinks in. To be clear, I’m not suggesting that I am a Type 1, or and ISTJ, or whatever other platitudes we read or hear. But sometimes those words show us a truth about ourselves that we’ve conveniently overlooked.
This morning, I’m thinking about the beauty of clichés or even memes. Sometimes they tell a truth so simply that we otherwise can’t express. I think Proverbs is full of those pithy reminders. The challenge is to read them with enough care that the simple words can sink in.
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