We have seen in our previous meditation that Solomon places a notable emphasis on the concept of balance in life. There is a rightful time for everything and there is rest and wisdom in acceptance of the fact.
Read MoreAnd so we are reminded by Solomon’s observations that the whole of life does not reside only upon the positive side of the ledger of human experience. It is not all about gaining, establishing, and building. It is not all about laughter, celebration, and love.
To be truly understood, life must be viewed and experienced in its entirety, with God trusted as the sovereign ruler over it all. Everything has its place. Everything is made beautiful in its time.
Read MoreThe world will never tire of telling us that what we do is who we are – that we are defined, both now and forever, by what we put into the world and how prominent of a mark we manage to make. The Word of God urges us to consider an alternative: that we keep our work, no matter how successful or unsuccessful we happen to be, in its proper place. And that place is most definitely not in the absolute center of our lives.
Read MoreMake no mistake: if anybody was going to acquire enough stuff and have great enough experiences to feel satisfied by them, it was going to be King Solomon of Israel. Such a notion should give us pause: if it didn’t work for him, what makes one think it’ll work for us?
Read MoreThe human problem is beyond human comprehension. Nothing we ever achieve, no standard of living we ever attain, no amount of technological or scientific advancement; nothing seems to come close to righting the wrongness of life. No amount of insight or learning or analysis has helped us undo the damage every subsequent generation seems destined to cause.
Read More