Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”
- A Blind man, who guides another blind man, will end up with both of them in a ditch.
- Psalm 1 tells us how blessed is the man who shall not abide in the council of the wicked.
- We pray in the Liturgy and ask that God will discredit the council of Achitophel.
- In the book of Proverbs we see the advice that we should not listen to the guidance of blood thirsty evil doers.
ADVICE AND GUIDANCE
- You may have to give advice or receive advice. Advice itself can be good and profitable or bad and destructive.
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- Free advice – unsolicited – is a cheap advice. Usually is a useless advice which benefits nothing. Sometimes is even resented and leads to opposite results. That is why some parents and councilors are sometimes surprised that their children never listen to them or uphold their warnings.
- The most essential elements of advice are
A) wisdom: The approach to the person you advice will make the difference between success or failure, some people can make the person come up with the solution of a problem by himself through a smart dialogue which does not impose on the person’s sensibilities. You must use tact and intellect to drive home your advice. You cannot do that without the guidance of the Holy Spirit. That is why there is a major difference between a psychologist and a spiritual guide like the father of confession, or even a parent. You cannot claim to advise your child in a loud voice in front of his or her friends. This will definitely be counter productive. Patience is another element of wisdom, as you may have to wait for the proper time and place. Or you may need to repeat your advice several times in different ways.
B) Experience: it is imperative that you know exactly what you are talking about. Never try to advice someone, even your child, if you have no idea about the subject of the problem. If someone has a problem with a government office, you have never been through a similar situation nor seen it happen to someone else with all its details, you should not inject yourself and pretend to be the all knowing super hero. Equally important, is the fact that just because you made a certain mistake in your past, does not mean that the person in front of you will have to be expected to fall into the same mistake. Different eras, different environment and different personalities result in a different outcome.
C) Honesty: always ask yourself why am I saying what I am saying? What are my motives? Why does a friend advise his friend that he must have sex before marriage? Why would a parent advise his son to stay home and avoid having friends of any kind? Why would a mother advise her daughter to paint her face and wear so called fashionable clothes which may be quite unsuitable? Every word you utter is recorded in heaven. You shall give an account about it to the one who really knows your actual intentions. Some people deliberately give misinformation to others in order to gain an advantage at work or in business etc. it all seems to be disguised as advice from a sincere person.
- Now if you are on the receiving end of an advice. How should you handle that? The essential elements here are different.
A) Humility: even a child can say something to an old man which may turn out to be life saving. So do not despise any advice given to you from any source but rather be grateful that some one cared enough to help out.
B) Wisdom: to discern whether this advice is right for you or not, regardless how close the donor may be to you. If it turns out this is not for the Glory of God – based on your understanding of the word of God – then you must be polite in dealing with the adviser, and even though you explain how this may contradict your faith or spiritual life, nevertheless you are grateful for the fact that they cared enough to share their thoughts with you.
C) Action: even the wrong advice may be useful when you wisely realize that it opened your eyes to the existence of a problem. In any case you have to think and actively seek the right solution. It might even be the amputation of that harmful friendship itself. The best approach in every case is to kneel down and ask God for help to see through the maize of advice bombarding us all around all the time and actively seek a spiritual guide who loves God and will walk with you through thick and thin.
Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.
And Saul asked counsel of God; Shall I go down after the Philistines? Wilt thou deliver them into the hand of Israel? But he answered him not that day.
And one told David, saying, Achitophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Achitophel into foolishness.
But if thou return to the city, and say unto Absalom, I will be thy servant, O king; as I have been thy father’s servant hitherto, so will I now also be thy servant: then mayest thou for me defeat the counsel of Achitophel.
Then said Absalom to Achitophel, Give counsel among you what we shall do.
And the counsel of Achitophel, which he counseled in those days, was as if a man had enquired at the oracle of God: so was all the counsel of Achitophel both with David and with Absalom.
And Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Achitophel hath given is not good at this time.
Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that thou go to battle in thine own person.
And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, the counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Achitophel. For the LORD had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Achitophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom.
Then said Hushai unto Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus did Achitophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel; and thus and thus have I counseled.
And when Achitophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and gat him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulcher of his father.
So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it;
For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life.
The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to naught: he makes the devices of the people of none effect.
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkened unto counsel is wise.
Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.
Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.’
Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?
Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?
Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel,
Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.