Our World, Their World

The prandial conversation turned to matters of societal responsibilities to the less fortunate.  The Lady said, “As Jesus said, ‘Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime."’”  With a mild demurrer, but no rebuke, I suggested that while that was a well-known saying, we have no evidence that Jesus said it.   In response to the question, “When were you hungry, and we fed you?”  Jesus did say, “When you did so unto the least of these, you did it to me.” 

In any event, we veered a bit from the topic to explore the biblicization of common sayings.  Conventional wisdom is rife with bon mots and platitudes which are credited to The Bible.  “Spare the rod and spoil the child” is one of the most often misplaced (or misquoted) “scriptures.”  What actually is in the Bible is this:  “He who spares the rod hates his son.”

Bible and other classical literature notwithstanding, we live in a day in which darned few people know much of anything.  Except technology.  They know technology and how to utilize it.  Puts us old duffers in a whole different world, and one, I think, that the younger ones hope soon fades completely from societal memory.  

Now how did I turn a dinner conversation into a rant?