What we think is bad . . .
. . . may not be so bad.
Find out why by watching our Truth in Two (full text below).
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Picture Credit: Luke Renoe, Snappy Goat
FULL TEXT
Every day students come to my class, they know we will be investigating the etymology of a word. An etymology means the development of a word’s history.
A word’s meaning grows over time. Consider the word “temper.” Now if someone is angry, we might say, “Cool your jets!” and by that we mean “Control your temper!” But if we say “bring the heat to temper the metal” that would be closer to the original meaning. The word “temper” originally meant to bring metal to a suitable, useable state. Picture a blacksmith heating a horseshoe to make it pliable so he can fashion it for a horse’s hoof.
Sometimes in life we must work with what we have been given, “Tempering our expectations.” What we mean is, “Things may not always go our way” or “We may not get everything we want.” Another phrase we use is, “Make do with what you’ve got.” We may be frustrated by our situation. A poker player might say, “I’ve got to go with the hand I’ve have been dealt.”
Solomon teaches temperance by his proverbial wisdom. For instance, Ecclesiastes 7:8 says, “Better is the end of a thing than its beginning.” So, I can say, do not be too quick to label something “good” or “bad.” The end of something may matter more than its beginning.
Here is how we practice Solomon’s wisdom of temperance.
Do not believe that one event is the best or the worst.
Be wary not to put all your eggs in one basket.
Wisdom suggests that our best plans may not work out.
Having a Plan B, is better than just having Plan A.
Preparation is good, expectation, not so much.
Things are not always as they seem.
What you see, isn’t always what you get.
These proverbial statements underline Solomon’s point: temper your expectations.
For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, president of the Comenius Institute, personally trying to temper his expectations with biblical wisdom.