Siggy's Blurbs: Siggy's Edge of Country …

It was time to review the book King Solomon wrote in the bible, Ecclesiastes.  I hadn’t read my Bible in a while, and I realized the issues that I was facing, and causing some of the depression, were the same issues King Solomon was writing about in his book.  King Solomon was the richest man in the world and lacked nothing.  He had hundreds of concubines.  He questioned the purpose of his life.  Things didn’t make him happy.  At times he despaired.  He said, what was the use, the same fate faces me as other people?

I realized it was time to review his book.  I certainly wasn’t the richest man in the world, but I was dealing with the same issues:  can things satisfy you?  What was the purpose of your life?  I certainly was at the tail end of my life.  So yesterday I picked up a Bible and started reading his book.  I know in the end he says the only wisdom is to fear the Lord, but I want to first read through all the issues he was detailing of his life.

Tags: can things satisfy you, concubines, despair, Ecclesiastes, fear the Lord, God, King Solomon, purpose of life, reading the Bible, richest man in the world, tail end of life, the Bible, things don't make you happy, wisdom
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‘The poor man thinks money will buy his happiness, the rich man knows it won’t.’  The first time I heard that said it was my pastor (and friend) who told me that.  I am sure it was not his original words.  It is true when you are struggling to pay your bills it is a common illusion.  And not being able to put food on your table is certainly anxiety provoking.  Money can’t replace your sense of purpose.  It is true sometimes your job is a good fit.

You always wonder how it would be not to worry about money.  King Solomon was the richest man in the world, had it all, lacked for nothing and all he could say in the book he wrote was, ‘Vanity, everything is vanity.’  Riches can not buy peace of mind.  If you read Ecclesiastes, the book he is credited with writing in the Bible, and do not read the ending; you miss the whole point.  In it he said the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.  Every person needs a relationship with the Almighty.  It all come down to that.  Money never satisfies.  Ask the billionaire who can buy anything whether money can buy him happiness.  I think you know the answer.

Tags: "vanity everything is vanity", anxiety, beginning of wisdom, Bible, billionaire, Ecclesiastes, fear of the Lord, God, King Solomon, money, money can't buy happiness, pastor, pay your bills, peace of mind, poor man, put food on the table, rich man, riches, sense of purpose, The Almighty, the Lord, wisdom
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There is only now.  If you are stuck in the past or the future you never get to the now.  To truly experience what is going on you need to be in the present.

As I watch my four dogs it is readily evident they know no other reality than now–the present.  If they are hungry or happy, you know it instantly.

The now is all that matters.  Yes, you can linger in the past or look into the future but if you stay in either realm you are not experiencing life to the fullest.

Being in the present is always being aware of your surroundings, your current feelings a constellation always fluid.  There are so many universes occurring simultaneously and to become aware of some of them is to be focused on the present.

There is beauty (and horror) everywhere.  In Ecclesiastes, a book in the Old Testament, it says in one passage that a gift given to us is to enjoy the daily pleasures of life–a paraphrase but nevertheless if you are not aware of life in the present you are missing out your enjoyment of life–the now.

Somehow you have to banish the past and do not linger in the moments to come and simply open up yourself to the present.  The world is yours to enjoy.

Tags: be in the present, beauty, Bible, dogs, Ecclesiastes, enjoy daily pleasures, enjoyment of life, experience life, focus on the present, four dogs, God, happy, Old Testament, only now, pets, so many universes, stuck in the past, the future, world yours to enjoy
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Each person has a mission (or calling).  And when we think we are finished, we are not.  Someone else (in some distant future) will pick up the threads of our life.

That is how it always was:  You take on someone else’s mission and at some point someone, somewhere will continue your unfinished business.

All one is asked is to do His will.  It should not be your concern even if you think you have completed the job.  Someone may come along and take your life’s work in a different direction.

All you are asked is to fulfill your own mission.  In the Old Testament it says, “God has set eternity in our hearts.” (the words of the Preacher in Ecclesiastes).  We never can see the complete picture.

Each person only sees his/her part and sometimes all we can do is to take the next step.  And that is all we are asked to do:  to take your next step.  And that takes faith in the unknown.

Tags: "God has set eternity in our hearts", Bible, do His will, Ecclesiastes, eternity, faith, faith in the unknown, God, His will, life's work, never see the complete picture, Old Testament, pick up the threads of our life, take the next step, the Preacher, unfinished business, your calling, your mission
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Just examine one section of the book in the Bible written by King Solomon (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8) to illustrate this.  Truth is absolute but it is more complicated than that.  Yes, truth is absolute but is always balanced by another truth.  There is a time and place for everything.  It states there that ‘for everything there is a season,’ the section of the Bible from which Pete Seeger, the well known folk singer, adapted his lyrics of the song “Turn! Turn! Turn!” which the Byrds had a hit with in the late sixties.

In those lines you have one statement or if you want to call it one truth balanced by another.  For example, ‘there is a time to love and a time to hate, a time to mourn and a time to laugh’ and so forth.

Too many people have pulled this Scripture (and others of course) out of context and declared part of each statement to be absolute truth.  If you were to declare one statement to be absolute truth (and it is), it is not valid for an eternity.

And this happens all the time when a preacher will act as though he/she is the only one who possesses the truth, and others do the same.  Yes, there is a time and season for every truth and be aware there will always (???) another side to it and there is a season for everything.

Tags: "Turn! Turn! Turn!", absolute truth, Bible, double edged sword, Ecclesiastes, for everything there is a season, God, King Solomon, Pete Seeger, Preacher, scripture, seasons, the Byrds, time, time and place for everything, truth, wisdom
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It is a four letter word — “pain”.  That more than anything in my life has initiated change.  My pastor yesterday related the story of Noah and the flood and of course the ark.  He said the storm comes first, then the promises of God represented by the rainbow.  Another way of saying the same thing is that God will always take care of you.  The 23rd Psalm states, ‘I will walk you through the shadow of death’, — not around but through.  Ecclesiastes, the book in the Bible written by King Solomon says, ‘Bad things happen even to good people.’  Storms always come or trials which is another way of saying the same thing.  Then the rainbow follows, which represents the promises of God.  God never forsakes us.  You never are able to see the big picture:  ‘God has set eternity in our lives’ (Ecclesiastes, again).  Life does not always make sense nor is it always fair.  If you insist on all that, you will torture yourself unnecessarily.  Pain and trials always come.  If your life ran smoothly all the time not only would your life be boring but there would be no need to ever learn how to overcome problems.  And trials and pain and tragedy come to each person.  No one is exempt.  And again, life is never fair.  And that is how we learn.  Through those trials (and the accompanying pain that follows).

Tags: 'God has set eternity in our lives', 23rd Psalm, bad things happen to good people, Bible, change, Ecclesiastes, God, God never forsakes us, God will always take care of you, King Solomon, knowledge, learning, life is not always fair, Noah and the ark, overcome problems, pain, pastor, promises of God, shadow of death, storms or trials, the rainbow, trials
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