Preservation

Proverbs 2:10 "Discretion shall preserve thee."

In summers of years gone by, when my children were at home, our family planted a garden and we preserved the food by canning or freezing the produce. What satisfaction we had when we could see those  rows of jars on the shelves or open the freezer and observe all the fine choices arrayed there.   In those cold winter months, I received such deep fulfillnent from reaping all the hard work involved, when we sat down to a bountiful table laden with the wonderful food we had preserved!

Had we tilled that garden, planted it, nurtured it, produced a top crop and then plowed it under, we would never have experienced  complete fulfillment. It was the preservation of all the good fruits and vegetables that made us feel so great!

"Discretion" is the quality of having or showing good judgement in speech or behavior so as to avoid offense to others.  This Proverbs selection says " discretion shall preserve thee."  The word "preserve" means to keep safe from contamination.

I tend to be a pretty "black and white" person.  I can easily define what I think is right and wrong.  I would consider myself to be a realist who can get pretty focused and confrontational when I am defending what I think or know to be "truth".  But I have learned that discretion is a quality that I need  very much in balancing out the so called "strengths" of my personality.  There is a need to consider the perception of all those I deal with in life.  When I am not discreet or do not use good judgement in my desire to defend what I think to be "right", I can quickly contaminate a situation or a relationship.

Wheras the Word directs me to "speak the truth", it also warns me that it is " woe to that man by whom an offense cometh".  I also read that I should strive " to be at peace with all men." These directives don't always easily mesh.

It is much easier for me to go ahead and speak the truth quickly and with strong conviction than it is to hold my tongue,  analyse the situation, and then address it with discretion or carefulness.  What I have observed from hard lessons learned,  is that relationships can be contaminated or preserved.  It's my choice.  Why form relationships,  nurture them to a point, then destroy them when I think I have earned the right to speak quickly or act impulsively.

Friendships and marriages are destroyed because of this very thing.  The art of preserving foods is a lengthy and difficult process. So is the art of preserving relationships. 

I don't have a garden these days, but I have daughters who do a beautiful job of lining those shelves. And I often enjoy the fruits of their labor. My life has been so enriched by the bounty of food enjoyed the year around. 

Likewise, I have learned that praying for discreet responses in my interaction with my family and friends reaps rich rewards.  It brings so much protection to  the relationships that I have spent years in fertilizing and nourishing.  I want to artfully use discretion to preserve my connections with those I love.  I have invested far too much time into these things that are  so precious to me to misuse them.