Hickory Sticks and Rainbows

(Pro 15:32 KJV)  He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.

The Hebrew word for “instruction” (discipline NASB) (4148) is bigger than the KJV translation.  It is more than taking a few classes or listening to a lecture.  To be fair, education in the time of King James was a bit different.  Do you remember, or for that matter did you ever hear, the song that goes,

School day, school days,
Good old golden rule days.
Reading and writing and ‘rithmatic,
Taught to the tune of a hickory stick.

The hickory stick was not just to point at things on the board.  It was to smack unresponsive students.  

One of the sad truths of life is that we usually learn better under duress than we do when smiling and happy.  You may not like it but the idea that you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar should bring to mind that we are not trying to catch flies.

So?  The point is not “inflict pain”.  The point is to learn from life.  The more you can learn with sunshine and rainbows the lest you will need the hickory stick.