Singing soothes the soul. At least it soothes my soul. I have discovered that I love to sing. So when I heard that St. John’s was going to offer a Compline service during Lent, with an all-male “monastic” choir, I jumped at the opportunity.

I first learned about Compline from my EfM group in Washington, D.C. We would often say Compline as our closing worship before dispersing into the night. What I didn’t realize was that monastic communities often chant the daily offices, of which Compline is the seventh and final office of the day.

Several of my favorite prayers come from the Compline service, which appears in the Book of Common Prayer on pages 127–135. Here is one of them:

Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love’s sake. Amen.

If you are local to the Seacoast region of New Hampshire, I strongly urge you to experience sung Compline for yourselves. There are only two more Sundays (April 3 and 10) left. Arrive as much as a half hour before 7:00 p.m., so that you can bathe in the silence and twilight of St. John’s nave. We start promptly at 7:00, and the service is over by 7:30. You won’t want to miss this.

Following is the press release that our director, Dr. Kevin Siegfried, wrote. If it doesn’t compel you to join us one of the next two Sunday evenings, I don’t know what will.

Compline: Music of the Soul from the Mists of Time

It is a Sunday night. A fading twilight glows through the stained glass windows. Candlelight dimly illuminates the historic space of St. John’s Church in Portsmouth.

People from all walks of life are silently waiting to absorb some evening therapy in a timeless, mystical, musical way. At the rear of the sanctuary, a choir of 16 singers softly processes to position in the choir loft. Now in a semicircle, the choir stands quietly. Into the silence the choir intones the opening prayer. The ancient office of Compline is under way.

What is Compline? The word comes from the Latin, completorium, meaning “completion.” It is the last of the seven daily monastic offices, a short service of spoken and sung prayers upon completion of the day. Weaving together themes of comfort, watchfulness, safety, and guidance, Compline provides peace for the night and hope for the new day.

The first Compline was celebrated in the Middle East around A.D. 379 and subsequently spread to Europe and the rest of the world. And now, for five Sunday evenings in Lent, a new choir has formed at St. John’s to revive this ancient singing tradition.

Most of the service is sung and chanted. There is no sermon, no offering, and no pressure upon those in attendance to do anything but listen and meditate on the passage of day into night.

The members of the St. John’s Compline Choir have gathered from all over the Seacoast community and are passionate about sharing this ancient tradition. All are welcome to attend.

The service lasts just under 30 minutes.

St. John’s Church is located in Portsmouth at 101 Chapel Street. For more information, call (603) 436‐8283, or visit stjohnsnh.org.

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 21^st 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.

Perhaps my favorite passage in the entire book of Proverbs is in today’s 30^th 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.

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 28^th 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.

There are two verses in today’s 27^th 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.

Proverbs 26 is rich with quotable verses. I chose two to discuss this 26^th 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?

The 24^th 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.

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.

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 21^st 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.

This exercise of blogging every day for the 31 days of August is two-thirds complete. My own diligence is producing results. I look forward to “decompressing” on September 1^st with my thoughts on what this has meant to me.

Three verses stand out to me in the 21^st chapter of Proverbs. Remember, despite the obvious religious connection, these are timeless truths that we can all benefit from—at least that is my hope and my intention.

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance,
but everyone who is hasty comes only to want. (Prov 21:5, NRSV)

In much of Proverbs, each verse is a couplet pitting one concept against another. Often the theme is righteousness versus wickedness, prosperity versus want, wisdom versus folly. In this verse, diligence is contrasted with haste. I never thought of diligence as involving a lack of haste, but on reflection it does. Yes, some effects of diligence are almost immediate, most notably a rise in self-esteem. But diligence involves planning for the long term.

Network marketing is an exercise in diligence. Those who expect immediate riches are almost invariably disappointed. Network marketing is hard work, especially in this Land of Instant Gratification. I coach those whom I enroll in my business to think big, think slow, and think long-term. Not all of them are able to do this, but those that do are richly rewarded.

Whoever loves pleasure will suffer want;
whoever loves wine and oil will not be rich. (Prov 21:17, NRSV)

This verse hits a bit too close to home for me. Back in 2001 after I was “downsized” from my job, I portrayed myself as semiretired. I remodeled the upstairs bedrooms, ripped up the wall-to-wall carpeting downstairs, had the hardwood floors refinished, and took nice vacations. Little did I know that the money would run out. In retrospect, that time would have been better spent making plans for residual income streams.

I’ve learned my lesson, and my readers can benefit greatly from my own prodigality. One thing that I have learned is that we are put here on this planet to serve, not to be served. Once I internalized this truth, my life started turning around. That is not to say that I don’t allow myself to enjoy the finer things in life. I do. I just don’t focus on them as my reason for being.

All day long the wicked covet,
but the righteous give and do not hold back. (Prov 21:26, NRSV)

Finally, there is great power in giving. Generosity invariably brings prosperity. This is a recurring theme in my writing, and for good reason. Give generously. Give without expecting anything in return. I guarantee you’ll be pleasantly surprised.