Stephen Bly Down A Western Trail

My Savvy Buddy

Stephen Bly

WESTERN WISDOM  "My Savvy Buddy" audio podcast by award-winning western author Stephen Bly. Sponsored by BlyBooks.com Legacy Series. 
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MY SAVVY BUDDY
By Stephen Bly
Circa 1996 

I was writing a scene in one of my novels and I had a question about shotguns. I wanted a lady in my story to pick up an old, first series Model 12 shotgun. But I wasn’t sure if modern shells would work in that model. That’s when I called my buddy, Jim. He’s an antique gun dealer. Sure enough, he knew the answer. Old Jim has plenty of savvy about things like that.  

I Like That Word 

You know, I like that word savvy. Picked up from the Spanish, it’s always been a cowboy word for knowledge or understanding. Oh, nowadays folks all over the country use it, but it’s never as colorful as it was out on the frontier. 

I heard Jake Miller called as man with a lot of savvy. “Shoot,” an old timer proclaimed, “that Jake is smarter than a bunkhouse rat. Why, he’s as wise as a tree full of hoot owls. He has more information than a mail order catalog.” 

Both Savvy and Dumb 

What always gets me is how a man can have so much savvy in one area of life and be so dumb in other areas. 

I just read about a brilliant brain surgeon getting his third divorce. Then there’s a math professor in a neighboring state who’s being tried for molesting a 9-year-old girl. And there’s a local guy who’s a genius at building aluminum welded jet boats, but he drowned after a boat accident. He was drunk at the time. 

Who Is Wisest? 

All the above had some savvy, alright. But not enough in the areas that really matter. 

The Bible says, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom” (James 3:13). 

And what does that kind of wisdom look like? 

“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure, then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere” (James 3:17). 

Everyone An Expert 

My buddy, Jim, is an expert at antique guns. Chances are every one of us is an expert at something. But if we flunk on spiritual wisdom, our knowledge is of little more than trivial value. For all purposes, we no savvy nada.