Hasty Pudding Tastes Like $#%!

I'm terrible with hasty decisions. Always have been. Its funny, because all the spiritual gifts tests tell me I am a discerning person. I guess my discernment is on a slow release, like a pill you swallow that takes hours or days to take effect.

Exhibit A: I bought a car on a hasty decision. Granted, it took about 10 days from making the decision to obtaining the car, but the second I saw the For Sale sign on that '74 MG Midget, I decided to buy it. It cost me $1800 to purchase it, another $2000 over the next 2 years to keep it running. I put about 10K driving miles and 5K pushing miles on it during that time period. Then I gave up. It was a lemon. Junk from day one.

The bad taste from that hasty pudding lingers still.

Exhibit B: Most recent case - Last night, filled with what at the time I would have called righteous anger, I fired off a message to my siblings. No thought. Bad grammar. Raw emotion. I haven't had cross words with any of them in years. This bomb detonated on impact. Destruction ensued. After a few gracious responses, some tears and me saying "I'm sorry, please forgive me" more times than care to record, I was left with the shame and regret of knowing I had wounded people I dearly love. This morning, the bad taste lingers.

James, brother of Jesus, wrote a little letter that made it into the Bible. Its chocked full of wisdom. One of his more familiar lines advises us to "be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry". I was 0 for 3 last night. What good advice! What a wise approach! Where was this wisdom when I needed it? Buried beneath a layer of pride and self-righteousness. I've had that passage memorized since I was a kid. But knowledge alone does not a wise man make. What I need is someone who will scrape off that sin that gets between me and wisdom so I can turn my knowledge into right action. Thanks to Jesus, I have that person in my life. I'm glad He is patient with me.

Its time to move on. Make amends where I can and leave the rest for others to forgive. Hopefully I have through this experience, lost my taste for hasty pudding. But I feel certain I'll be tempted to try it again someday. The plan is to be wise enough by then to say NO.