Proverbs 18

There’s much to like about this particular chapter, but I really like the combination of the two verses that bookend this chapter:

“ Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgement.” (v. 1)
“ A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” (v. 24) (ESV)

I’ve always had a tendency toward introversion; I assume I’ll shock exactly 0% of readers with that statement. There have been plenty of times in my life where I’ve let that tendency go too far, where introversion becomes reclusiveness and a preference for a few close friends becomes an assumption of no friends. The first verse, then, becomes an admonition not to be isolated; that instead of a simple preference, removing myself from fellowship with others can be driven by selfishness. We’re meant to be generous with what we have, and that doesn’t only mean with money or other tangible goods; we’re meant to share our lives with one another.

The last verse, though, provides encouragement for those of us who have a tendency to draw away from others in tough times: there are friends that will stick close when trouble finds us, closer even than family. I know that doesn’t necessarily resonate with everyone; we live in a messed-up world, and it extends even to relationships with siblings. In an agrarian society, where extended families would have lived and worked together, though, I’m sure it had much deeper meaning. [Although they had screwed-up relationships with siblings, too. For proof I direct you to more or less the entire book of Genesis.]

I was going to close with an exhortation to everyone reading not to isolate themselves and that there is great reward in allowing people to share in your lives, but I suppose writing that to a group of people that already make efforts to come together in community and share their lives, and who I’ve personally seen stick by me, and each other, in rough times, is a bit unnecessary. So: keep doing what you’re doing, everyone. It’s great. And proverbial! (How everyone else has the self-restraint not to use that word in every post, I do not know, but I have not been gifted with such restraint.)

[Oh, and an observation unrelated to anything: verse 6, “A fool’s lips walk into a fight, and his mouth invites a beating” (ESV) is basically an early version of the statement, “Your mouth is writing checks your body can’t cash,” and thus Solomon can be given a partial writing credit on the movie “Top Gun.”]