Nothing New under the Sun?

Tradition and Wisdom
Teaching and Learning:
Superiority of Wisdom

Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

The Message

The Quester

 ¹These are the words of the Quester, David's son and king in Jerusalem ^2-11 Smoke, nothing but smoke. [That's what the Quester says.] There's nothing to anything—it's all smoke.
   What's there to show for a lifetime of work,
      a lifetime of working your fingers to the bone?
   One generation goes its way, the next one arrives,
      but nothing changes—it's business as usual for old planet earth.
   The sun comes up and the sun goes down,
      then does it again, and again—the same old round.
   The wind blows south, the wind blows north.
      Around and around and around it blows,
      blowing this way, then that—the whirling, erratic wind.
   All the rivers flow into the sea,
      but the sea never fills up.
   The rivers keep flowing to the same old place,
      and then start all over and do it again.
   Everything's boring, utterly boring—
      no one can find any meaning in it.
   Boring to the eye,
      boring to the ear.
   What was will be again,
      what happened will happen again.
   There's nothing new on this earth.
      Year after year it's the same old thing.
   Does someone call out, "Hey, this is new"?
      Don't get excited—it's the same old story.
   Nobody remembers what happened yesterday.
      And the things that will happen tomorrow?
   Nobody'll remember them either.
      Don't count on being remembered. .

For Reflection
Well, that should take the wind out of your sails!

I had a frustrating day -- interruption after interruption -- one problem addressed another appeared.  All the rivers flowed from the same place -- Groundhog Day all over again, and again, and again.

Then I remembered "Its not about me!"  It's about the help I was providing.  Things smoothed out.  Frustrations disappeared one challenge at time.

This is not a new revelation, but rather, a remembering of an older one.

Pray
for patience when life happens.  Pray that in times of frustrating circumstances, you will be comforted by God-centered wisdom.  Pray that you remember that you sacrificed the "YOU" for the greater focus on graceful work.

Do Not Forsake Me

Tradition and Wisdom
Teaching and Learning:
Superiority of Wisdom

Psalm 71:1-12

The Message

    I run for dear life to God, I'll never live to regret it.
   Do what you do so well:
      get me out of this mess and up on my feet.
   Put your ear to the ground and listen,
      give me space for salvation.
   Be a guest room where I can retreat;
      you said your door was always open!
   You're my salvation—my vast, granite fortress.

 ^4-7 My God, free me from the grip of Wicked,
      from the clutch of Bad and Bully.
   You keep me going when times are tough—
      my bedrock, God, since my childhood.
   I've hung on you from the day of my birth,
      the day you took me from the cradle;
      I'll never run out of praise.
   Many gasp in alarm when they see me,
      but you take me in stride.

 ^8-11 Just as each day brims with your beauty,
      my mouth brims with praise.
   But don't turn me out to pasture when I'm old
      or put me on the shelf when I can't pull my weight.
   My enemies are talking behind my back,
      watching for their chance to knife me.
   The gossip is: "God has abandoned him.
      Pounce on him now; no one will help him."

 ^12-16 God, don't just watch from the sidelines.
      Come on! Run to my side!
   My accusers—make them lose face.
      Those out to get me—make them look
   Like idiots, while I stretch out, reaching for you,
      and daily add praise to praise.
   I'll write the book on your righteousness,
      talk up your salvation the livelong day,
      never run out of good things to write or say.
   I come in the power of the Lord God,
.

For Reflection
Do you run for dear life to God?  Read the psalm carefully.  Note the confidence that the psalmist places in God.  Note the recognition the psalmist has of the wonder of God.  Notice the awe with which the psalmist speaks.  There is not doubt what he anticipates to result from his prayer.  How are you doing?

Pray
Paraphrase these verses in a personal prayer.

Wisdom with Words

Tradition and Wisdom
Teaching and Learning:
Superiority of Wisdom

Ecclesiastes 10:12-20

The Message

 ^12-13 The words of a wise person are gracious.
   The talk of a fool self-destructs—
   He starts out talking nonsense
   And ends up spouting insanity and evil.

 ¹⁴ Fools talk way too much,
   Chattering stuff they know nothing about.

 ¹⁵ A decent day's work so fatigues fools
   That they can't find their way back to town.
 ^16-17 Unlucky the land whose king is a young pup,
   And whose princes party all night.
   Lucky the land whose king is mature,
   Where the princes behave themselves
   And don't drink themselves silly.
 ¹⁸ A shiftless man lives in a tumbledown shack;
   A lazy woman ends up with a leaky roof.

 ¹⁹ Laughter and bread go together,
   And wine gives sparkle to life—
   But it's money that makes the world go around.

 ²⁰ Don't bad-mouth your leaders, not even under your breath,
   And don't abuse your betters, even in the privacy of your home.
   Loose talk has a way of getting picked up and spread around.
   Little birds drop the crumbs of your gossip far and wide.

.

For Reflection
Watch your mouth!

We are known by how we act, what we say, and what others say about us.  We can control the first two.  By doing so we give little fodder for accusation.  Perhaps one of the best things that can be said of us is that we were never known to speak ill of anyone.

Pray
that you love yourself so much that you refuse to speak ill of others. Pray that the temptation to be valued by others does not lead you to ill-considered criticism of another's action.  Pray that you can displace defensive thoughts and words with ones that support a God-centered life.

Wisdom and Success

Tradition and Wisdom
Teaching and Learning:
Superiority of Wisdom

Ecclesiastes 10:5-11

The Message

 ^5-7 Here's a piece of bad business I've seen on this earth, An error that can be blamed on whoever is in charge:
   Immaturity is given a place of prominence,
   While maturity is made to take a backseat.
   I've seen unproven upstarts riding in style,
   While experienced veterans are put out to pasture.
 ⁸ Caution: The trap you set might catch you.
   Warning: Your accomplice in crime might double-cross you.
 ⁹ Safety first: Quarrying stones is dangerous.
   Be alert: Felling trees is hazardous.
 ¹⁰ Remember: The duller the ax the harder the work;
   Use your head: The more brains, the less muscle.
 ¹¹ If the snake bites before it's been charmed,
   What's the point in then sending for the charmer?

.

For Reflection
Life happens!  Sometimes it is good and sometimes not. When something untoward happens, one will most likely look for someone to blame.  He or she may also manipulate the situation for revenge.  The message here is to hold your head when you think you have been wronged act with prudence. Retaliation serves neither the one wronged or the one who has wronged another.  End the spiral of revenge by offering peace and forgiveness.  Doing otherwise will provoke escalating conflict.

Pray
that you will love those who have wronged you.  Pray that they will see God's hand in yours.  Pray that you will work for peace, not revenge.  Pray that you will trust in God to restore you.

Consider the Work of God

Tradition and Wisdom
Teaching and Learning:
Superiority of Wisdom

Ecclesiastes 7:1-14

The Message

Don't Take Anything for Granted

 ¹ A good reputation is better than a fat bank account. Your death date tells more than your birth date.

 ² You learn more at a funeral than at a feast—
   After all, that's where we'll end up. We might discover
      something from it.

 ³ Crying is better than laughing.
   It blotches the face but it scours the heart.

 ⁴ Sages invest themselves in hurt and grieving.
   Fools waste their lives in fun and games.

 ⁵ You'll get more from the rebuke of a sage
   Than from the song and dance of fools.

 ⁶ The giggles of fools are like the crackling of twigs
   Under the cooking pot. And like smoke.

 ⁷ Brutality stupefies even the wise
   And destroys the strongest heart.

 ⁸ Endings are better than beginnings.
   Sticking to it is better than standing out.

 ⁹ Don't be quick to fly off the handle.
   Anger boomerangs. You can spot a fool by the lumps on his head.

 ¹⁰ Don't always be asking, "Where are the good old days?"
   Wise folks don't ask questions like that.

 ^11-12 Wisdom is better when it's paired with money,
   Especially if you get both while you're still living.
   Double protection: wisdom and wealth!
   Plus this bonus: Wisdom energizes its owner.

 ¹³ Take a good look at God's work.
   Who could simplify and reduce Creation's curves and angles
   To a plain straight line?

 ¹⁴ On a good day, enjoy yourself;
   On a bad day, examine your conscience.
   God arranges for both kinds of days
   So that we won't take anything for granted. .

For Reflection
When it is all said and done, the only thing you possess that is truly valuable is your reputation.  How are you known?

Pray
that you live a life consistent with your faith.  Pray that your are known by your God-centered wisdom.  Pray that you are known foremost as a person of God.

Two Are Better Than One

Tradition and Wisdom
Teaching and Learning:
Superiority of Wisdom

Ecclesiastes 4:4-12

The Message

 ⁴ Then I observed all the work and ambition motivated by envy. What a waste! Smoke. And spitting into the wind.

 ⁵ The fool sits back and takes it easy,
   His sloth is slow suicide.

 ⁶ One handful of peaceful repose
   Is better than two fistfuls of worried work—
   More spitting into the wind.

Why Am I Working Like a Dog?

 ^7-8 I turned my head and saw yet another wisp of smoke on its way to nothingness: a solitary person, completely alone—no children, no family, no friends—yet working obsessively late into the night, compulsively greedy for more and more, never bothering to ask, "Why am I working like a dog, never having any fun? And who cares?" More smoke. A bad business.

 ^9-10 It's better to have a partner than go it alone.
   Share the work, share the wealth.
   And if one falls down, the other helps,
   But if there's no one to help, tough!

 ¹¹ Two in a bed warm each other.
   Alone, you shiver all night.

 ¹² By yourself you're unprotected.
   With a friend you can face the worst.
   Can you round up a third?
   A three-stranded rope isn't easily snapped. .

For Reflection
One would think that to be the envy of others would be a desirable thing, especially if the envy is the result of virtuous living and business dealing.   The paradox is that those who are envied because of the results of their virtuous hard labor are sometimes resented, especially by those who are jealous of their success or those who have been less virtuous and unsuccessful. Such envy and jealousy may lead to misguided objectives.  If one is striving to be like another out of envy his or her motives are ill advised.  Referred to as "smoke" and "spitting into the wind," envy results in empty living.

Working obsessively results in isolation.  One who is isolated from the comforts and reassurance of companions leads a lonely life -- "more smoke."

Life in the hollow of God's hand is a life full of healthy relationships and quiet wisdom that allows one to escape the clamor in the noise of daily living. How do you escape the noise of daily living that is not measured in decibels?

Pray
that envy does not capture you.  Pray that you live a comfortable life, content to live in the way of the Lord.

Hope in God's Steadfast Love

Tradition and Wisdom
Teaching and Learning:
Superiority of Wisdom

Psalm 33:13-22

The Message

 ^13-15 From high in the skies God looks around,
      he sees all Adam's brood.
   From where he sits
      he overlooks all us earth-dwellers.
   He has shaped each person in turn;
      now he watches everything we do.

 ^16-17 No king succeeds with a big army alone,
      no warrior wins by brute strength.
   Horsepower is not the answer;
      no one gets by on muscle alone.

 ^18-19 Watch this: God's eye is on those who respect him,
      the ones who are looking for his love.
   He's ready to come to their rescue in bad times;
      in lean times he keeps body and soul together.

 ^20-22 We're depending on God;
      he's everything we need.
   What's more, our hearts brim with joy
      since we've taken for our own his holy name.
   Love us, God, with all you've got—
      that's what we're depending on.
.

For Reflection
When I was a kid, I frequently went to the movies on Friday nights.  I saw a lot or serial westerns.  I remember how all of us who were in the movie house would whoop and holler approvals when the heroine was rescued and the bad guys thwarted. 

Some times we forget that like in those early films, we too can experience the joy and thanksgiving of being rescued.  Unexpected rescue is not just for the movies.  In real life unexpected rescue, often at the last minute, is not only possible, but for some, who have the wisdom to see God in action, rescue is commonplace.  Those who depend on God are never without rescue.  We just need to believe in Him and ask. Hope for rescue.

Pray
that you continue to fear God --  that you trust in His awesome power,  wonder at his gift of grace, respect his holy position and follow in obedience with eyes wide open.  Pray that you trust in God for all things.  Pray that your will look for rescue in the hollow of God's caressing hand.