07.12.04

Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of evil. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn away from it and pass on. For they do not sleep unless they have done evil; and their sleep is taken away unless they make someone fall. For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence. But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble. My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. Put away from you a deceitful mouth, and put perverse lips far from you. Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you. Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or the left; remove your foot from evil. - Proverbs 4:14-27.

The Navarra governmental website states that, “Hospitals attended nine people after the third bull run, four of them with injuries caused by bulls' horns.” This is the region in northern Spain where the world famous festival of the Running of the Bulls is held at Pamplona each year. The Pamplona fiesta in honor of St. Fermin has been held for centuries and thousands of people attend with many participating in the dangerous running of the bulls. Since 1910, fifteen people have been killed and many many more injured.

I have often wondered what motivates a person to intentionally place themselves into dangerous situations like the Running of the Bulls. Maybe it is the hope of being able to go home and say that they had ran with the bulls using this as a source of future bragging rights. For others maybe it is just the lust for danger that they have. In a film directed by Frank Coppola a young man asks another what he wants to do and he answers, “Nothing legal, that’s for sure!” It is the same kind of attitude that some have which throws them into the midst of bulls risking their lives for a little excitement.

Solomon warns of the great risks we are taking when we knowingly place ourselves into the path of sin. Sin is like a bull, which is impossible to control. The path of the running of the bulls is well marked and the path of sin is also well marked. The warning of Solomon still rings out accurately today, “Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of evil. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn away from it and pass on.” Why? Because the bulls of sin, “…do not sleep unless they have done evil; and their sleep is taken away unless they make someone fall. For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.” The path of sin is clearly a most dangerous way to travel.

The fact is that we do not have to run with the bulls. No, we can take another path. Solomon says of this path, “But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.” Which path are you on?