“Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?” Job 12:12

I own 2 Queen Palm Trees…though not by choice. They came with the house when I bought it over 30 years ago, and they were tall even then. The responsibility to care for something I did not choose came along with the house that I did! So…being a responsible homeowner, I considered it part of my duty to keep the tree trimmed. I am now questioning that assumption.

Palm trees are messy. When the seed pods start to bust out and bloom, they drop yellow crud on the ground and draw honey bees. But as the process matures, each phase becomes more messy. Ultimately, if left alone, the palm tree looks like it is growing spears, then orange seeds drop to the ground where they begin fermenting and turn to stink. I don’t like stink!

Because they are over 40 feet tall and I only have a 30 foot ladder, Katie asked me to please be careful. She loves me! Over the years I have tried hiring people to trim the trees for me, but their price and unreliability always led me to just do it myself. Yesterday I asked my friend and neighbor to give me a hand because he had offered. We trade help back and forth that way! As I hung from the top of the ladder, and while reaching up with an electric chainsaw as high as I could, I suddenly had an epiphany! “WHAT THE HECK AM I DOING???”

It may have been external factors that provided the wisdom. With the temperature about 180 degrees and the humidity equivalent to being submerged in a swimming pool, I looked down from my perch and experienced a moment of clarity! Maybe I was prepped for wisdom by the letter I received from the Social Security Administration the day before. It said that I was now a qualified recipient!

Like my neighbor and me, ‘older’ and ‘wiser’ are pals. And like the trees that came with my house, one just comes along with the other. And sometimes it’s a shock! I can remember things that I used to do that now make me cringe with, ‘I can’t believe I did that…and LIVED!’ But according to the Bible, that is the way it’s SUPPOSED to be!

I am called by God to READ HIS WORD, GROW UP in wisdom and then PASS IT ON as I grow. It is a convenient way for people to learn without falling first. Some learn faster and easier than others. But not me! Being stubborn, I’ve learned most things the hard way! Bible reading often confirms what I was too dumb to learn or believe in the first place. A process I don’t recommend!

I’m starting to believe that the wisest thing I can do now, is to cut the trees down! Now where’d I put that chainsaw?