by Carl Eric Johnson on Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Proverbs 31 is comprised of two discrete sections. According to my online source, verses 1–9 carry the heading “The Teaching of King Lemuel’s Mother.” This section is interesting, but it is verses 10–31 that always catch my attention when I read this final chapter in the book of Proverbs. This section is titled “Ode to a Capable Wife.”
Reading these verses with 21st century eyes, one might be tempted to dismiss them as abject sexism. Knowing what I know about the history at the time, however, they are actually unusually liberating.
Regardless, I invite you to read the following, substituting “husband” for “wife,” as appropriate. What I read is a description of the ideal partner/mate/spouse—not only the spouse that I have in my ideal life, but the spouse that I am in his or her ideal life.
With that, here are verses 10–31 in their entirety. I hope you enjoy them as much as I always do.
A capable wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels.
The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.
She does him good, and not harm,
all the days of her life.
She seeks wool and flax,
and works with willing hands.
She is like the ships of the merchant,
she brings her food from far away.
She rises while it is still night
and provides food for her household
and tasks for her servant-girls.
She considers a field and buys it;
with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
She girds herself with strength,
and makes her arms strong.
She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
Her lamp does not go out at night.
She puts her hands to the distaff,
and her hands hold the spindle.
She opens her hand to the poor,
and reaches out her hands to the needy.
She is not afraid for her household when it snows,
for all her household are clothed in crimson.
She makes herself coverings;
her clothing is fine linen and purple.
Her husband is known in the city gates,
taking his seat among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them;
she supplies the merchant with sashes.
Strength and dignity are her clothing,
and she laughs at the time to come.
She opens her mouth with wisdom,
and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
She looks well to the ways of her household,
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and call her happy;
her husband too, and he praises her:
“Many women have done excellently,
but you surpass them all.”
Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Give her a share in the fruit of her hands,
and let her works praise her in the city gates. (Prov 31:10-31, NRSV)
I have enjoyed spending these 31 days of August with you. The 31 chapters of the book of Proverbs in the Bible have provided excellent food for thought on most of these days. Stay tuned as I “decompress” the effect that this exercise has had on me in the days and weeks ahead. And, as always, thank you for your feedback below. God’s blessings on you and yours.
by Carl Eric Johnson on Monday, August 30, 2010
Perhaps my favorite passage in the entire book of Proverbs is in today’s 30th chapter:
Two things I ask of you;
do not deny them to me before I die:
Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that I need,
or I shall be full, and deny you,
and say, “Who is the Lord?”
or I shall be poor, and steal,
and profane the name of my God. (Prov 30:7-9, NRSV)
“Remove far from me falsehood and lying.” I read this as referring both to my own falsehood and lying and that of the people I interact with.
“Give me neither poverty nor riches.” The extremes have their unique challenges, as eloquently expressed in verse 9 of this passage. Please, God, place me right in the middle.
“Feed me with the food that I need.” Too much and I face all sorts of health challenges that result from overindulgence. Too little and I starve.
Network marketing is a great wealth-building vehicle for all people. Anyone can succeed, regardless of education, training, and finances. Most network marketing companies have an obscenely low start-up cost … at least in comparison to other business opportunities such as franchises. (Of course, if you have tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to invest up front, franchises offer a great systematic way to generate wealth.)
One might think, therefore, that the largest fear we all have to deal with is the fear of failure. In my experience, a more insidious fear is the fear of success. If I become rich, I’ll lose my friends. Self-sabotage is rampant in network marketing.
Don’t you succumb to it! You can do far more good with excess wealth than you can if you remain in paycheck-to-paycheck mode. Yes, there are those who squander their gains on fast cars and, in some cases, fast women. But the vast majority of successful network marketers are overwhelmingly generous with their wealth.
In my own company, there are many stories of philanthropy among the 150 or so members of USANA’s Million Dollar Club. One of the top income earners in USANA is the single largest donor to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. USANA’s founder, Dr. Myron Wentz, is a huge philanthropist. Not only has he subsidized Sanoviv, his world-famous holistic medical center in Baja California, with his own funds, he has established two Wentz Medical Centers, one in Uganda and another in Cambodia. And he and USANA are huge donors to the Children’s Hunger Fund. Just this past week at our International Convention in Salt Lake City, we USANA associates presented a check for $125,000 to Dave Phillips, president of CHF.
Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist, has a philosophy that resonates with me:
Make a comfortable living and then make a difference.
In this age of economic uncertainty, the ability to make a comfortable living is an inestimable blessing. Don’t be afraid to succeed. By doing so you can make a huge difference in this world.
by Carl Eric Johnson on Sunday, August 29, 2010
I love breakfast. If I didn’t also love fine dining so much, breakfast would probably be my favorite meal of the day. Through years of exposure to nutritional guidance, including becoming a Certified Health Coach with Dr. Ray Strand’s Healthy for Life organization (use Discount Code cejco to get 20% off), I also recognize that most people do themselves a disservice in their food choices at breakfast time.
Here are some simple guidelines to follow to make breakfast your most healthful meal of the day:
- Don’t skip breakfast! It fuels your furnace and jump starts your metabolism, allowing you to burn more calories throughout the day. They say you should eat something almost immediately upon arising in the morning. I am not there yet. I do enjoy savoring my first few cups of coffee before I can even think about food, but by 8:30 or 9:00 I am ready for breakfast.
- Ultimately, eat whatever you want, but pay attention to how your food choices make you feel. I love bacon and I love hash browns. Neither of these is particularly healthful. But eaten in moderation, and truly savored, I don’t deny myself these treats. I do monitor how I feel after eating them, though, and I invite you to do the same.
- Avoid cereals. With the exception of whole oatmeal (stay away from instant anything), breakfast cereals are probably the worst thing you can put into your bodies. For the most part they consist of the two ingredients we all need to limit: refined bleached flour and various forms of sugars. To add insult to injury, the milk we put on them is mucous-forming. (Ever wonder where that nagging clearing-of-the-throat comes from?)
- Likewise, avoid breakfast breads: doughnuts, danish, cinnamon rolls, etc. These are all high-glycemic, give you an initial energy boost, bring you crashing down, and make you ravenously hungry for more. If you find yourself starving in the middle of the morning, you probably ate something high-glycemic for breakfast.
- Eggs are good. Wait a minute! Don’t they raise cholesterol levels? Friends, dietary cholesterol is not where we get our elevated levels of cholesterol from. If anything, our overconsumption of refined bleached flour is the culprit.
- Plain yogurt is fine, but the flavored versions typically contain more sugar than is advisable. And absolutely avoid those brands that contain artificial sweeteners. As a rule of thumb, I avoid any food that calls itself “Diet,” “Lite,” “Low-Fat,” “Low-Carb,” or even “Healthy Choice,” because what these products tend to use instead (or as fillers) is typically far worse for us.
- Fresh fruit is great. Fruit juice is good but not great. Rule of thumb: The closer a food is to its natural state, the better it is for you.
- A breakfast shake is an alternative, but most of these are high-glycemic, too. The only brand I recommend is USANA’s Nutrimeal. All of USANA’s foods (even its Rev3 energy drink!) are low-glycemic.
To reiterate the main point, definitely have something for breakfast, preferably low-glycemic to give you sustained energy throughout the morning.
—◊♦◊—◊♦◊—◊♦◊—
So what does this have to do with the 29th chapter of Proverbs? Absolutely nothing. There was only one verse that stood out to me this morning, and I really didn’t want to go where it would have taken me. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions, but it does seem to point to the economic dampening effect of high taxes:
By justice a king gives stability to the land,
but one who makes heavy exactions ruins it. (Prov 29:4, NRSV)
by Carl Eric Johnson on Saturday, August 28, 2010
Does the title of this post send shivers up your spine? It certainly does mine. And yet I continue to be astounded by the sheer quantity of get-rich-quick scams going around.
Because I am writing a book on network marketing, I am purposely on multiple email lists, so I see it all. This is actually very good for me, as it will all be fodder for my chapter on “How Not to Promote Your Business.”
The Internet facilitates the proliferation of get-rich-quick scams, but even the ancients knew something about them. The 28th chapter of Proverbs practically mentions them by name:
Anyone who tills the land will have plenty of bread,
but one who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty.
The faithful will abound with blessings,
but one who is in a hurry to be rich will not go unpunished.
The miser is in a hurry to get rich
and does not know that loss is sure to come. (Prov 28:19-20,22, NRSV)
I am using these 31 days of August to discuss the 31 chapters of Proverbs, but my purpose is not religious as much as it is folk wisdom and common sense. (I’m also saddened at how biblically illiterate so many younger people are, not being taught the Bible even as world literature, and so I am honored to do even a small part in generating awareness of the Bible.) In a few days I’ll get back to my usual (and less regular) posting habits, but I have enjoyed the discipline of blogging daily. I may have to find other excuses to do so.
Back to the topic at hand. The sad part for me about the proliferation of get-rich-quick scams is that they cause many people to lump them together with legitimate opportunities. The chapter “How to Choose a Network Marketing Company” will deal with criteria to use to separate the wheat from the chaff—oops, another biblical reference. 
I have found network marketing to be a great equalizer. Listen to the stories of those who have gone on to amass great fortunes in network marketing, and you’ll be amazed at their sheer ordinariness. They didn’t have large sums of money to invest up front, otherwise they may have gone into stock or real estate investing instead. They come from all walks of life with all levels of education. Anyone can do this.
Invariably, what they all have in common is a huge Why. They needed to make this work … and so they did.
The neat thing is that we can too.
But it probably won’t be quick, and it will take some effort on our parts. There’s a reason they call it network marketing.
So keep an open mind. In network marketing you might just find a vehicle to help you achieve the financial freedom you desire.
by Carl Eric Johnson on Friday, August 27, 2010
There are two verses in today’s 27th chapter of Proverbs that have to do with avoiding the pitfalls associated with being praised:
Let another praise you, and not your own mouth—
a stranger, and not your own lips. (Prov 27:2, NRSV)
The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
so a person is tested by being praised. (Prov 27:21, NRSV)
Before I address the obvious messages in these two verses, allow me to address the opposite extreme. Don’t you just hate when you give someone a compliment and he or she responds by denying it? Or am I the only one who finds this offensive?
There is a school of thought that professes that the way to avoid the dangers of getting puffed up—getting full of oneself—when someone pays you a compliment is to resist the compliment by affirming the opposite. I hate to break it to you, but the proper response to, “You look especially lovely today,” is not “Oh, no, I don’t. I look a fright!” The proper response is simply:
“Why, thank you!”
You could add, “You’re too kind,” but I prefer hearing, “Aren’t you sweet for saying so!” Negating one’s praise is false humility, which is perhaps even worse than arrogance.
Now on to the verses from Proverbs. Tooting one’s own horn (verse 2) is certainly to be avoided. Or is it? In my own recent job search, and now as I sell myself to prospective Web clients, I have to emphasize what my strengths and skills are, and how my clients can benefit from them. But this can be done without arrogance, and that is the point. It’s a fine line, though, and I am still learning the intricacies of this lesson. Perhaps you are, too.
Yes, one can get puffed up by praise, and this should be avoided. The easiest way to avoid this is to experience the common humanity of all of us. In my own case, I know very few people who know the database programming language SQL better than I do. I have lived and breathed SQL for 23 years. If someone praises my expertise, I graciously accept the praise.
But that doesn’t make me any better than anyone else. We all have our gifts, our areas of expertise, our specialties. Perhaps the purpose of life is to discover those gifts and then to give them.
Praise can indeed be a crucible (verse 21), and many people fail the test. My experience is that we fail the test as often by undervaluing our worth as by overvaluing it.
Recognize your strengths and your gifts.
And then recognize the strengths and gifts in everyone around you.
by Carl Eric Johnson on Thursday, August 26, 2010
Proverbs 26 is rich with quotable verses. I chose two to discuss this 26th day of August, but I encourage you to treat yourself to the entire chapter.
Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying,
an undeserved curse goes nowhere. (Prov 26:2, NRSV)
I find this verse especially reassuring. I believe very strongly in the power of the word. Creation begins with a word—the creation of anything. Words can bless and words can curse. We can use our creative talents for good, and we can use them for evil.
What reassures me in this verse is that, as powerful as words can be, they still cannot violate universal laws and universal truths. A curse that is deserved is very effective. In fact, it is usually redundant, as the object of the curse no doubt has already begun to experience the negative results of his or her wrongs. But an undeserved curse serves only to reflect negatively on the person doing the cursing.
Whoever digs a pit will fall into it,
and a stone will come back on the one who starts it rolling. (Prov 26:27, NRSV)
Occasionally I receive criticism from my fellow Christians, objecting to my more universal tendencies. They are quick to quote Bible and verse to me, all the while ignoring what their own eyes see and their own ears hear around them. If this verse in the Judeo-Christian Psalter is not a perfect description of the Buddhist concept of karma, I don’t know what is.
Christianity works for me. But the more I learn about my own faith, the more I appreciate other faiths, and the more similarities I see among all the world’s great religions. Universal truths are universal, not the property of any one faction. Whether I read them in the Bible or I experience them in my day-to-day life, I appreciate the interconnectedness of all life.
Care to share your thoughts with your fellow readers?
by Carl Eric Johnson on Wednesday, August 25, 2010
August 25 brings the 25th chapter of Proverbs. Two passages stand out, having related messages:
With patience a ruler may be persuaded,
and a soft tongue can break bones. (Prov 25:15, NRSV)
If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat;
and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink;
for you will heap coals of fire on their heads,
and the Lord will reward you. (Prov 25:21-22, NRSV)
I noticed at a very early age the power of a “soft tongue.” My parents had two very different styles of discipline. My mom criticized and punished my siblings and me with great regularity, while I can count on the fingers of one hand the times my dad disciplined me. In her defense, Mom was a Coast Guard wife, running the household on her own for months at a time whenever Dad was on a mission at sea. The stress she lived under, especially in the earlier years of their marriage, must have been enormous.
Still, of the two, my father’s discipline always carried much more weight. He was (and still is) a very soft-spoken man, slow to anger and full of love—despite the regularity with which his children, his grandchildren, and now his great-grandchildren screw up … myself included!
Nothing we did was ever good enough for Mom; yet our very existence was a gift of joy to Dad. Lest you misunderstand me, I love my mom with all my heart and I miss her terribly (she died nearly eight years ago). I have nothing but compassion for her, for I recognize that how she was raised as a girl was simply carried forward to her own children.
Enough rambling. Back to the texts at hand. Have you noticed that it is often the soft-spoken people in a room who command the greatest attention? Most people go around tooting their own horns, yammering away under the assumption that the people they’re talking to (talking at, really) are listening. Sadly, most of us aren’t listening; we’re contemplating what we’re going to say when the person gabbing away at us comes up for air.
But when a soft voice begins to cut through the clamor, a hush soon falls over the room. Clearly, this person has waited to speak, so let’s listen up!
And don’t spend a lot of energy plotting your revenge on people who have wronged you. As the second passage suggests, kindness will go a lot further in “heaping coals of fire on their heads” than animosity. In an ideal world, they will experience true remorse and want to make things right with you, otherwise “karma” will take care of things with “What goes around comes around.”
Either way, justice is served—and we’re not responsible for meting it out.
Practice speaking softly, listening actively, and suffering wrongs with grace and kindness. Then share your thoughts below.
by Carl Eric Johnson on Tuesday, August 24, 2010
The 24th chapter of Proverbs does not speak much to me, with a few exceptions. Verses 17 and 18 are an interesting twist on “Do unto others.” And verses 33 and 34 are repeated at various points throughout Proverbs, warning us not to be lazy.
One verse stands out from the rest, though, perhaps because it has several layers of meaning:
Prepare your work outside,
get everything ready for you in the field;
and after that build your house. (Prov 24:27, NRSV)
In a post-nomadic, agrarian society, it would have been critically important to “make hay while the sun shines.” Guess what? Our Information Age society is not that much different.
In recent months I have put much on hold while I have concentrated on building my various client bases, both in my network marketing company and in my Web development and consulting business. And yet the weather trumps both of those. When my grass is long and the sun is shining, I can’t think of many excuses not to get busy with the lawnmower. (This also satisfies my exercise quota for the day, which happens also to be one of my priorities.)
It’s all about priorities. And planning. I can’t “build [my] house” if I’m not producing the means with which to do so.
What are your priorities? What are your plans? Don’t answer to me, answer to yourself. Definitely make plans for the future, and remain flexible enough to fit higher-priority activities into the mix.
by Carl Eric Johnson on Monday, August 23, 2010
I love the first four verses of Proverbs 23 for a variety of reasons. As my regular readers know, prosperity is a favorite theme of mine. But prosperity is so much more than simply feeding expensive appetites.
When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
observe carefully what [who] is before you,
and put a knife to your throat
if you have a big appetite.
Do not desire the ruler’s delicacies,
for they are deceptive food.
Do not wear yourself out to get rich;
be wise enough to desist. (Prov 23:1-4, NRSV)
The first two verses are obvious: don’t pork out when dining with someone of prominence. Words of wisdom if I ever heard them. And yet I could write pages about the disappearing practice of dining.
When was the last time you sat down to a meal with your family? Sharing a meal is such an intimate activity, it is a pity that we don’t practice this ritual more often. We are so overscheduled and overstimulated that we rarely find time to dine with those we love the most.
And we are paying the price. Fast food was once considered a delicacy. Now it plays a far too prominent role in our daily diet. “Do not desire the ruler’s delicacies, for they are deceptive food.” And you didn’t think the Bible mentioned fast food!
Finally, we are advised in verse 4 not to wear ourselves out getting rich. Is that a life of prosperity, constantly striving to increase the bottom line? I think not. As I said, prosperity is so much more than simply feeding expensive appetites.
In my own case, as long as I make enough to pay all my bills, to sock something away for retirement, and to support my charities of choice, I am happy. The funny thing is that by focusing on what I want to do with my money, the money comes in sufficient quantities of its own accord.
When I am interviewing someone who is interested in joining my primary network marketing business, I spend a lot of time asking questions about his or her Why. I want to determine what motivates the person at the deepest level, and then if my opportunity is a good fit, I can move forward with my prospect’s goals in mind.
In contrast, I continue to be amazed by all the come-ons that promise a life of leisure, with yachts and McMansions and fancy cars. If that is all that motivates you, I don’t want to talk to you. If, instead, you want a better life for your family, you want to pay off medical bills, you want to fund a pet project that will benefit many people, or you want to promote healthier lifestyles, then we need to talk. These are goals I would be proud to help you achieve.
by Carl Eric Johnson on Sunday, August 22, 2010
Today’s post will be short and sweet. Chapter 22 of Proverbs starts with this great verse:
A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
and favor is better than silver or gold. (Prov 22:1, NRSV)
Allow me to bring this into the 21st century and talk about domain names. I love to coach my Web clients in proper domain name strategies. Most of the time my recommendations are appreciated. Sometimes they fall on deaf ears.
Just recently I had a client, I’ll call her “Pam Valley,” advise me that she was no longer interested in her domain name, “PamValley.com.” I was incredulous. I still am, for that matter. The first thing I advise my new clients is to see if any form of their name is available as a domain name. If YourFullName.com is still available, snatch it up immediately, even if you don’t see an immediate use for it. I guarantee you will down the line.
What amazes me is that this woman actually already had her personal domain name, and now she simply wants me to let it expire. “The customer is always right.” That is what I shall do. But for you, dear reader, be sure you renew the domain names you want to keep. And if YourFullName.com is available, register it immediately. I am a domain registrar, so I can help, and my specialty is personal service—that is, with a live human being, me. Call or email (or leave your comment below), and I’ll get back to you.
