Deacon Tom Fox

Wisdom in Four Words

Somewhere, sometime, I wrote that God is the only original thought. Mostly, nothing we do is original – or if it is original, it is because of a gift from God. God spoke the only primal and necessary word… and “the Word became flesh.” The following thoughts came to me or to my attention. I don’t remember from whence they came. But when I revisit this – I am reminded that much can be packed into a saying of just four words. When tempted to go on and on about something, may we quickly realize that it is “much ado about nothing.”

A while back, I woke up to consider a long list of things that it was important for me to accomplish. I had to help change some things –like some things in our neighborhood… the thinking of how some people ought to approach voting decisions, where people walk their dogs, and oh yes, a letter to the Bishop telling him some matters I thought I had a better handle on than perhaps he did… Then I found a wisdom note that said, “Man proposes – God disposes.”

My younger brother was named Eddie… a piano-playing, type-A, gem of a fellow. He died of lung cancer. I’ve grieved and missed my late brother. At the time… and even now, I look at his picture and feel sad that he passed on. But the grief is lessened each year. And it’s true that I am finding, “This too shall pass.”

There are many short thoughts that we’ve learned the hard way. And doesn’t it seem young people are destined to learn by experience rather than by assimilation of (my or our) words?

Don’t Touch Hot Stoves
Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
Don’t Lick Icy Pumps
Don’t Drink and Drive

Even with access to the sayings of our elders, we adults seem to need to find the value in four-words of wisdom:

Politics Makes Strange Bedfellows
Bad News Travels Fast
Charity Begins At Home
Still Waters Run Deep
Stress Can Kill You

There are lots of four word guidelines even in the Scriptures:\

Let There Be Light        
Don’t Eat the Apple
Forgive Me O Lord
Lift Up Your Head
Lord Help My Unbelief        

If we start looking for wisdom quotes in just a few words, we can’t forget Will Rogers. More than once, he said, “Common sense ain't common.”

Yes, much wisdom can be crowded into four words. But the words that have been the slowest coming – the ones I have fought longer than any other are:

         In God We Trust.

Oh…

This is Deacon Tom!

Blessings.
Deacon Tom
www.deacontomonline.com

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Tom Fox was ordained a Deacon in the Archdiocese of Denver. He currently lives and serves in a small, but growing mountain community in northern Arizona. Tom has received many requests for copies of his Sunday homilies and his shorter Communion Service Reflections. He is an experiential preacher who uses life and stories to share a message of today for Catholics and other Christians Many of his sermons are found on the internet – and a collection of them are found on his website: www.deacontomonline.com. Tom would love to hear from you and will try to answer any questions or sharing that you send in.