90 | The Proverbs and Power - How to Want Things Worth Wanting

“Two things I ask of you, Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.” Yup. The Proverbs say some things about wealth and power we rarely say or pray. In this episode, we dive in to desire: what is worth wanting? Which is another way of saying, what nourishes the human soul? Because it doesn’t seem to be power, that is, wealth, success or influence, even though I (Blaine) spend a lot time thinking about how to get those things. Instead, the wisdom of the ages advocate for righteousness, a concept translated in the New Testament as eudaimonia, or flourishing. That’s all well and good, but we’d like to know, how does someone actually want righteousness? What’s it look like? And, maybe most importantly, how does it interact with the world’s concept of power? The answers are out there, folks, from wanting wisdom to asking for a God-listening heart. We’ve got a ways to go, but dismantling misleading aspirations is a good place to start.