Faith: Paul's counsel will help as we stack up thoughts and years

Where do you find a good riddle when you need one? On at least two recent occasions as I’ve begun writing this column, I’ve wished I could begin by grabbing a good riddle and deftly tucking it in to the first paragraph.

Two problems. The first has to do with “deftly.” I get many opportunities to line up words. Most of the opportunities have nothing to do with riddles — unless I muddle them up so much that they morph into such. But “deftly” often eludes me.

The second problem is that, though you can do an internet search and find a few million riddles, writing a good one yourself is surprisingly difficult. The more you try, and the more you look into the whole subject, the more you find out how complex it is.

When I think about riddling, I love to recall the classic contest J.R.R. Tolkien portrayed in The Hobbit between his great characters, Bilbo Baggins and Gollum. A simple but rather elegant example:

“A box without hinges, key, or lid, / Yet golden treasure inside is hid.” And the answer is ... Well, wait just a bit.

For the moment, I present for you no real riddle here at all. But just consider a few words and look for something they have in common. Who knows? You might later come up with a great riddle.

Snowflakes. Bricks. Debts. Clutter. Pounds. Firewood. Email.

You’ll soon see that a multitude of words fit the category I have in mind. You may have unraveled my non-riddle riddle words already, but I’ll add two more words that seem particularly appropriate to me right now: years and thoughts.

Since my birthday is in January, just a few days from now, I may be primed a bit to think about the passing of years. I remember that, as a teenager, I did a little math (the only kind of math I ever do) and determined that I’d very likely live to see the year 2000, but that I’d be pretty old by then.

I’m fond of sharing a paraphrased Bible verse with friends on their birthdays: “Now Barzillai was old and advanced in years” (2 Samuel 19:32). A more serious and precious verse is the prayer of the psalmist, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).

I’ve been told, by the way, that the last sermon my father preached was on this latter text. He lived it. Wisely.

Now, regarding “thoughts,” the Apostle Paul wisely encourages us to stack up in our minds the kinds of thoughts that can be described as true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. “Think about such things,” he writes (Philippians 4:8).

The answer, you may remember, to the Bilbo-to-Gollum riddle I mentioned earlier is “an egg.” Or, as Gollum puts it, “Eggses!”

I’ve listed nine words as clues to my non-riddle. And I now reveal (drum roll) that the category is “Things That Stack Up.” You can probably easily think of a slew of other words that fit. Of course, I’ll think of a dozen more as soon as I send this.

At present, what do you think about making a serious effort to put into practice the Apostle Paul’s counsel about what we should think about? For my part, I can hardly think of anything that will bless us more as we stack up years.

Curtis Shelburne writes about faith for The Eastern New Mexico News. Contact him at:

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