It's been too long, really. I need to work out a way to both teach and do my devotions. They really shouldn't suffer like this, regardless of what I'm doing.
vs 1
What follows is a long poem type thing, the main theme of which starts here - to remember God while you are young, and things still seem joyful and fun. No doubt if you remember God while life is pleasurable, you will be better disposed towards him. That was the first impression I got as I read this. I suppose it could also mean that you should remember God while you're young and more likely to go around getting into trouble.
vs 2
Either this is a metaphor for darkness coming (like the darkness that comes over the eyes of an old person) or it is talking about a specific time and its weather - perhaps both. I think it is metaphorical, though.
vs 3
Certainly this is talking about the ageing of people.
vs 4
They lose their hearing too, and also seem to close themselves indoors. I think. This is a little difficult to understand, but I don't really think it's of devestatingly super importance, because it is just repeating itself for a few verses now.
vs 5
I love the idea that old people are afraid of heights and dangers in the streets. It's so true. Note that I don't think Qoheleth has any specific age in mind - more he has the time when people go from not old to old. When they start shuddering and complaining about law and order.
But then eventually they die, and they go to their eternal home (!) and mourners take to the streets to mourn them. That they go to their eternal home is quite a statement. It shows that Qoheleth obviously believes there is something after death. What is it? He doesn't see the need to expand. Obviously we should already know.
vs 6
Nope, don't have any idea about the silver cord etc. Although it is interesting to see the term silver cord used here - could it be that all the talk of astral travel's silver cord started here in Ecclesiastes?
vs 7
Dust obviously refers to Genesis. But the spirit going back to God - is that a new thing? That actually seems a rather odd idea to be included here. I don't think it means their spirit. I think it means the spirit of life breathed into the dust that makes us live - so again from Genesis. Where else does spirit go but return to God?
vs 8
We had to be told this at least once more, and in reference to the inevitable death of everyone, it seems fair.
vs 9
Why are we in the third person now? Could it be that the pseudonymous author is actually talking about Solomon now, who actually did write a fair number of proverbs? Could be.
vs 10
It could be that the author of Qoheleth based his treatise on the works of Solomon's wisdom, and of others, and sort of expanded from there. I mean, it is one of the things about Proverbs that strikes you - they are just little snippets of wisdom, but they don't create a great eternal picture. If you lived purely with that as wisdom, you would really see how meaningless life had become.
Anyway, the author certainly things that the works he is talking about are truthful.
vs 11
I assume what he is saying here is that the words of the wise prod us like a shepherd prods a sheep. They point us in the right direction, even if it hurts.
vs 12
I love this warning. Basically, it is better to accept wisdom than to soak in it. Better to drink it than to swim in it. Life is for living, not just for philosophising. A worthy reminder to those of us who like to over-intellectualise. Soon we'll all be afraid of heights.
vs 13
We're right at the end now, and Qoheleth finally lets us in on his secret application of wisdom. For those of us in modern times, who know the ending, it's a bit of an anticlimax. But as the argument goes, it's a great ending. Note that his argument is not based on enjoyment of life, or on some reward. It is humanity's duty to honour God by obedience.
vs 14
There is a little stick here, I suppose. I mean, judgement takes place, and there is no reward for doing the right thing - you merely don't get punished. But the point is that because eternity is the only true certainty and meaning, then we must live for it, and not for this life. Easy to say, but it is so often hard to do, because we actually do live here, and our senses tell us about now, rather than about eternity. It really is a great book, if difficult in parts. I'll look forward to preaching on it.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Ecclesiastes chapter 11
vs 1
The TNIV takes a huge leap out from the other translations and gives quite a strong interpretation of the verse. And you know what? That might not be what you think a translator should do, but it makes a whole lot more sense than anything before it. I mean, look at the verse in the NIV, let alone the KJV. What's it on about? Who knows! I always thought it was about feeding ducks at a duckpond or something. But in the context of verse 2, the TNIV really makes so much sense.
So now, when I read this, I see it as prudent investment wisdom. Most of all, this section seems to be about actually getting out there and doing it. If you've got the extra grain, don't sit on it, send it out overseas and see a return on it, even if it is a long time in coming. So much simpler than the weird interpretations I've heard. It's funny how such a difficult verse got so widely used. Almost like some people want to give difficult verses certain meanings...
vs 2
Prudent investment is spread across many ventures. Don't put all your eggs in one basket, basically.
vs 3
Stuff happens when it happens, and when it's happened, then it's happened. Things that are are. As it were. A simple but wise lesson, I suppose. Some of us are more prone to wishing the world was another way.
vs 4
Since things that happen happen, you can't wait for perfect conditions. Sometimes you just have to get out and do what needs doing, in the rain.
vs 5
No doubt modern people are clambouring over themselves to say, "Ha, look how smart we are! We know which way the wind is going to blow, and we know how kids are made. Stupid ancient people. We don't need God to fill in such gaps." But the point of the verse is actually, "There are things you don't know, and there will always be things you don't know, so how can you expect to fully understand God if you can't fully understand something simple like the universe.
Oh, and you don't know where the wind will blow. You guess. Ancient people could also guess. And they knew how babies were made about as much as we do. How do 2 cells become millions of differenciated cells? So there. Take that, science!
vs 6
So work hard all the time, because something might suddenly pay off. Don't work stupidly, obviously, but don't not work just because you can't be assured of as big a success as you might hope, or because you think you've done enough work if everything goes to plan.
vs 7
I suppose so. Possibly this verse is necessary for nerds.
vs 8
What an awful statement, but true. People should enjoy their lives, but be aware that such enjoyment is ultimately hollow. They should also be aware that life does suck. It's never all flowers and sunshine for anyone. Everyone has dark days. But hey, those too are ultimately meaningless and hollow. So don't sweat it.
vs 9
So enjoy your youth, but don't do anything too stupid, because God doesn't lower the standards just because you're young. I don't think it's a threat, although it's easy to read it that way. More just saying that in joy don't disband wisdom, even in youth.
vs 10
Both in the having and then in the losing, it's just not worth worrying about. Qoheleth says, smartly, to enjoy youth while you have it, because you won't have it when you're older. But don't worry about it when you lose it, because it's meaningless anyway.
The TNIV takes a huge leap out from the other translations and gives quite a strong interpretation of the verse. And you know what? That might not be what you think a translator should do, but it makes a whole lot more sense than anything before it. I mean, look at the verse in the NIV, let alone the KJV. What's it on about? Who knows! I always thought it was about feeding ducks at a duckpond or something. But in the context of verse 2, the TNIV really makes so much sense.
So now, when I read this, I see it as prudent investment wisdom. Most of all, this section seems to be about actually getting out there and doing it. If you've got the extra grain, don't sit on it, send it out overseas and see a return on it, even if it is a long time in coming. So much simpler than the weird interpretations I've heard. It's funny how such a difficult verse got so widely used. Almost like some people want to give difficult verses certain meanings...
vs 2
Prudent investment is spread across many ventures. Don't put all your eggs in one basket, basically.
vs 3
Stuff happens when it happens, and when it's happened, then it's happened. Things that are are. As it were. A simple but wise lesson, I suppose. Some of us are more prone to wishing the world was another way.
vs 4
Since things that happen happen, you can't wait for perfect conditions. Sometimes you just have to get out and do what needs doing, in the rain.
vs 5
No doubt modern people are clambouring over themselves to say, "Ha, look how smart we are! We know which way the wind is going to blow, and we know how kids are made. Stupid ancient people. We don't need God to fill in such gaps." But the point of the verse is actually, "There are things you don't know, and there will always be things you don't know, so how can you expect to fully understand God if you can't fully understand something simple like the universe.
Oh, and you don't know where the wind will blow. You guess. Ancient people could also guess. And they knew how babies were made about as much as we do. How do 2 cells become millions of differenciated cells? So there. Take that, science!
vs 6
So work hard all the time, because something might suddenly pay off. Don't work stupidly, obviously, but don't not work just because you can't be assured of as big a success as you might hope, or because you think you've done enough work if everything goes to plan.
vs 7
I suppose so. Possibly this verse is necessary for nerds.
vs 8
What an awful statement, but true. People should enjoy their lives, but be aware that such enjoyment is ultimately hollow. They should also be aware that life does suck. It's never all flowers and sunshine for anyone. Everyone has dark days. But hey, those too are ultimately meaningless and hollow. So don't sweat it.
vs 9
So enjoy your youth, but don't do anything too stupid, because God doesn't lower the standards just because you're young. I don't think it's a threat, although it's easy to read it that way. More just saying that in joy don't disband wisdom, even in youth.
vs 10
Both in the having and then in the losing, it's just not worth worrying about. Qoheleth says, smartly, to enjoy youth while you have it, because you won't have it when you're older. But don't worry about it when you lose it, because it's meaningless anyway.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
More To Life than ATAR youth talk
This is a talk I have been asked to give to a small group of HSC students, to remind them of the realities of life and that the HSC isn't the end of the world, pass or fail.
More to life than ATAR
Time must be just flying for you guys. You might even be thinking, “I shouldn't have come here, I should be studying.” I can tell you, having spent the last couple of weeks in a school staff room, that your teachers are flapping around trying to do everything they can to make sure you have as many resources at your disposal as possible. You guys are their number 1 priority. Right now, you have probably spent about 10% of your whole life being told that the most important thing in the world is the HSC. And that's if no one mentioned it to you before year 11. The HSC is like a finish line, but instead of a ribbon to run through marking the end, it is a large, heavy curtain, so that you can't see anything on the other side of it. Here you are, running towards that curtain, and since it's so big, since it's really all you can see, and since it's getting closer, it becomes more and more important. Occasionally, people appear from the other side of that curtain – parents, teachers, newspaper reporters, politicians – and they all seem to say the same thing: that this is so important, that it is a once in a lifetime thing, that this will shape your future.
What I'm here to do tonight is bring a little bit of reality into those comments. I want to shine a light onto that curtain, so that you can see through it and realise that it's not the life and death event that it can be made out to be. I could tell you this in any number of ways. I could tell you that while school helps you work out what you can do for a job, it's not simply all about making you an employment machine (school is about making people well-rounded informed citizens, if you didn't know). I could tell you that modern education theory thinks that measuring students against the results of their peers is one of the least effective ways of measuring ability. If I wanted to be really cynical, I could tell you that the HSC is a political construct made to try and explain why we don't have enough university places for all the people who want to study. I could tell you about the number of university and other tertiary institutions in Australia that don't even look at your ATAR – they prefer to interview you, look at your community involvement, see an example of your work.
Perhaps even just hearing some of those things makes you feel better. But I'm not going to explore them in any great depth, because while there might be truth in all of them, they still don't give you a real understanding of where the HSC fits into life. The HSC is one of many times in your life where you will face the concept of pursuing excellence. But the problem we face today is that we've forgotten what excellence really is! I don't know what happened exactly, but one day the western world woke up and decided that excellence was something we achieve, something we do. We thought, “Hey, you know I bet we can measure excellence by looking at what people achieve, and how they perform on a test!” Whoever came up with that idea just missed the mark by a mile. But you can understand their thinking. In modern times, we like to be able to measure things, to quantify, to rank, to rate, to put values on things. It helps us to have control over things, because it means we can put them in their place, and feel comfortable knowing where they are. We even do this with other people – we want to be able to label them, measure them, rank them so that we can happily say, “This person is smarter, this person stronger, this person prettier, this person faster.”
But how often do we think about what happens next? When you say, “This person is stronger,” then how does the person next to them feel? But you say, “Oh, that's okay, you're smarter.” Now both feel bad – one's dumb and one's weak. Not only that, but the next person isn't as strong or as smart as either, or as pretty, or as fast. You don't want to tell them they are less valuable, but what do you say? “Don't worry, I'm sure you are good at something.” Oh, great. That's really what you want to hear. So what happens now? People become afraid of doing things if they can't achieve at the highest level. Failure becomes something to be feared, and so it becomes something to be avoided – you can't fail if you don't try. This apathy towards achievement is the result for people who are average in a world where excellence is measured externally. It stifles any chance they had of doing their best, because their best isn't good enough – only the best is good enough.
Thank God that's not true. No matter how much society tells us that excellence can be measured or achieved or performed, it's just not true. You know why? Because excellence isn't something to do. Excellence is something to be. The person who was excellence itself, who shows us how to be excellent, is Jesus. You might say he did some great things. But his excellence wasn't a function of what he did – even great things like healings, miracles, teaching the truth. No, his excellence was a matter of his closeness to God. Jesus was God, and so he was excellent. He followed God's path totally, never straying from it, and so he was excellent. Now you might be thinking that's all well and good, but Jesus never had to do the HSC. But that doesn't mean he never faced a situation where he was called to pursue excellence. When Jesus was sat before a group of hateful priests, when he was cast before a Roman governor, when people were calling for his blood, for his death, he could have told them he was God. God's voice could have boomed out of heaven and claimed him as his own. It had several times before. He says he could have summoned a legion of angels to his aid, to prove his excellence by doing something – a healing or a miracle - but he didn't. He let them lead him to a hill, nail him to a cross, and execute him publicly and shamefully. He didn't do it so people would think better of him. He didn't do it because it was a good career move. He didn't do it because it made him a better person. He did it because it was what God wanted, and that, I tell you, is pursuing excellence.
The HSC stands before you as a moment in your life that marks a pursuing of excellence. But you must measure your success in that pursuit properly. If you ace physics, chemistry and maths, get an ATAR in the top 0.1 percentile of the state, get into Medicine at one of Sydney's prestigious universities, and become a world class surgeon, but do not help the poor and needy, you have failed to pursue excellence. If you blitz your exams, gain a scholarship into law, and become a barrister working in the highest court in the land, but do not seek justice for those who don't have it, you have failed. If you become a top research scientist, and discover a cure for cancer, or AIDS, but you are not walking humbly with God, you've failed. It goes against everything we're ever told, but it's the truth – excellence is how close to God we are, not how much we do. It's a condition of the heart, not a list of actions we take. Anything we do, we can only achieve with God's strength anyway. He wants us to know him, to love him, and to serve him. That is excellence in the eyes of God. That is the path Jesus trod.
The truth is you don't need to do the HSC to please God. In fact, doing it to further your position in life is exactly the opposite of what God calls us to. That attitude of self-centredness is the very core of a failed life before God. It is that failure in all of us Jesus came and died for – to free us from our own failure, and to give us his status of excellence before God, so that our relationship with God might be unspoiled, so that we can then choose to serve him.
You can serve God as faithfully as a doctor or a dancer, a scientist or a service station attendant, a lawyer or a lollipop lady. What does God want of you, today? In this next couple of months? Breathe a sigh of relief, because he doesn't demand the best. He just wants your best. He knows who you are, he loves you for who you are, and he expects only for you to give back to him what he has given you. That is the excellence God demands. He knows what you're good at, and if you trust him, he will lead you to use it. But you have to know him, and trust him. The only way to do that is through Jesus, God as a man. Accept what God has done for you, and you can really pursue excellence in your life – excellence in serving God. To live any other way, ultimately, is to fail. But if you ask God to accept you, your successes and your failings, he will. And he will count you as excellent as Jesus, if you accept that you can't find excellence without him. Let me finish by praying for you guys for the next couple of months.
Our Lord God, help these guys pursue excellence in whatever you equip them to do. Help them to see through the curtain of the HSC, and understand that what matters to you isn't passing or failing, but knowing you, loving you and serving you wherever they are. Help them to do that during this HSC by giving them keen minds, discipline, and a closeness to you. Amen
Ecclesiastes chapter 10
vs 11
Does he receive no fee because he's now on the floor writhing in pain and dying? Or just because he didn't do the job?
vs 12
Not a pretty picture. But it is interesting to think that proverbial wisdom is that being wise (or at least saying wise things) is less likely to get you into trouble. More than that, though - to be wise is to be gracious. Grace and wisdom are linked. Not something we'd accept in modern times, I think.
vs 13
Poor fools. They start out bad, but end up really very bad. Nebuchadnezzar sort of bad.
vs 14
Not the most adequate verse break up, I'd say. But hey, if you're ever looking for a fool, then it's someone who is not gracious, whose words end up biting them, who starts dumb and ends crazy, and who talks a lot. Damn it, why do they always sound like me?
This might be a reflection on fools, but it could also be more general. The fact is that we don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. Sure, the world follows a pretty reasonable order, but that order breaks down often enough for us to not be able to second guess a lot of things. It's funny - people often talk about how God put order into the world for our sakes, to make our lives better. And yet the disorder and inability to know what's going to happen is what makes us rely on him.
vs 15
And I do not know how to really comment on this verse. Do they work themselves so hard that they forget how to get home? I suppose that's possible.
vs 16
Remember that feasting is not just eating - it's celebrating, and so drunkenness can come pretty quickly when feasting. As for a king who was a servant, I think the idea is that generally those not raised to be leaders aren't going to be as good as those who are. Instant power can easily go to a person's head, and coming "from the people" in a rags-to-riches style is not generally a positive thing, no matter how many movies love the plot for their RomComs.
vs 17
The opposite of the last verse, and it helps to highlight some of the reasons - although noble birth is still reason enough, it seems.
vs 18
I assume because they don't get in and fix the problems. And as everyone knows, when problems with house structure don't get fixed, they get worse, and then require more work, and the loop goes on.
vs 19
I think this verse is strongly dripping with sarcasm, but that's just in my reading. I mean the fact is that feasts are for fun, and that wine does make people feel happy, and money does solve lots of problems. But everyone's been to a feast that wasn't fun, has found that wine didn't make them feel better, and knows that money can't buy everything.
vs 20
Hence "A little bird told me." Obviously birds don't really carry the information, but it is incredible how stupid people are when they say things out loud that other people really shouldn't hear. The number of criminals who get caught because they're talking about their crimes in pubs or coffee shops and someone overhears, it's crazy.
Does he receive no fee because he's now on the floor writhing in pain and dying? Or just because he didn't do the job?
vs 12
Not a pretty picture. But it is interesting to think that proverbial wisdom is that being wise (or at least saying wise things) is less likely to get you into trouble. More than that, though - to be wise is to be gracious. Grace and wisdom are linked. Not something we'd accept in modern times, I think.
vs 13
Poor fools. They start out bad, but end up really very bad. Nebuchadnezzar sort of bad.
vs 14
Not the most adequate verse break up, I'd say. But hey, if you're ever looking for a fool, then it's someone who is not gracious, whose words end up biting them, who starts dumb and ends crazy, and who talks a lot. Damn it, why do they always sound like me?
This might be a reflection on fools, but it could also be more general. The fact is that we don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. Sure, the world follows a pretty reasonable order, but that order breaks down often enough for us to not be able to second guess a lot of things. It's funny - people often talk about how God put order into the world for our sakes, to make our lives better. And yet the disorder and inability to know what's going to happen is what makes us rely on him.
vs 15
And I do not know how to really comment on this verse. Do they work themselves so hard that they forget how to get home? I suppose that's possible.
vs 16
Remember that feasting is not just eating - it's celebrating, and so drunkenness can come pretty quickly when feasting. As for a king who was a servant, I think the idea is that generally those not raised to be leaders aren't going to be as good as those who are. Instant power can easily go to a person's head, and coming "from the people" in a rags-to-riches style is not generally a positive thing, no matter how many movies love the plot for their RomComs.
vs 17
The opposite of the last verse, and it helps to highlight some of the reasons - although noble birth is still reason enough, it seems.
vs 18
I assume because they don't get in and fix the problems. And as everyone knows, when problems with house structure don't get fixed, they get worse, and then require more work, and the loop goes on.
vs 19
I think this verse is strongly dripping with sarcasm, but that's just in my reading. I mean the fact is that feasts are for fun, and that wine does make people feel happy, and money does solve lots of problems. But everyone's been to a feast that wasn't fun, has found that wine didn't make them feel better, and knows that money can't buy everything.
vs 20
Hence "A little bird told me." Obviously birds don't really carry the information, but it is incredible how stupid people are when they say things out loud that other people really shouldn't hear. The number of criminals who get caught because they're talking about their crimes in pubs or coffee shops and someone overhears, it's crazy.
Saturday, September 05, 2009
Ecclesiastes chapter 10
vs 1
Another group of proverbial wisdom statements. We start with a statement that shows how, if you thought wisdom was powerful from the last chapter, folly is strong to defeat it, at least from within. Foolishness is like the termite of wisdom's wood. Remember that foolishness isn't just stupidity, or even a misunderstanding of how the world works. It is a misunderstanding of how God makes things work. So when you see a really smart, successful non-Christian make a career in politics, only to screw it up by having an affair, that is a classic example of the rot of folly. Even if he doesn't get caught, it will eat away.
vs 2
This is not a political statement, but damn it that it is so easy to use against socialists. Heh.
vs 3
I suppose just because they do one right thing, like walk along the road, doesn't mean that they are wise. Fools find ways of doing correct things foolishly.
vs 4
Compounding errors never helps. Even if you haven't done anything wrong, or especially so, there is no point then doing something wrong in an attempt to escape ire.
vs 5
And now we see another evil under the sun. This time it is a top down problem. Wisdom and leadership are no more linked than foolishness and youth, remember.
vs 6
No, he really does mean rich. Verse 7 makes that clear. I'm not actually sure what his point is, though. I mean, I could make up some logical stuff to explain it, but I feel it would be eisegetical. I don't know what was going on at this time for him to say this.
vs 7
I don't think this can be so easily read as to be referring to some idea that some people are born into legitimate rulership. That just doesn't seem to gel with what he says about cities putting people in charge who are wise etc earlier on.
vs 8-9
The thing about these little proverbs is that I don't think there is anything wrong with doing this work. He is simply observing that doing work can cause injury. It's just a way of life.
vs 10
I think this proverb is saying that while a sharpened axe is of some value, a really sharp axe in the hands of someone who doesn't know what to do with it is of little value. To use more modern terms, a pocket knife isn't as good as a scalpel, but a surgeon with a pocket knife is a hell of a lot more useful than a plumber with a scalpel, if your appendix needs to come out.
Another group of proverbial wisdom statements. We start with a statement that shows how, if you thought wisdom was powerful from the last chapter, folly is strong to defeat it, at least from within. Foolishness is like the termite of wisdom's wood. Remember that foolishness isn't just stupidity, or even a misunderstanding of how the world works. It is a misunderstanding of how God makes things work. So when you see a really smart, successful non-Christian make a career in politics, only to screw it up by having an affair, that is a classic example of the rot of folly. Even if he doesn't get caught, it will eat away.
vs 2
This is not a political statement, but damn it that it is so easy to use against socialists. Heh.
vs 3
I suppose just because they do one right thing, like walk along the road, doesn't mean that they are wise. Fools find ways of doing correct things foolishly.
vs 4
Compounding errors never helps. Even if you haven't done anything wrong, or especially so, there is no point then doing something wrong in an attempt to escape ire.
vs 5
And now we see another evil under the sun. This time it is a top down problem. Wisdom and leadership are no more linked than foolishness and youth, remember.
vs 6
No, he really does mean rich. Verse 7 makes that clear. I'm not actually sure what his point is, though. I mean, I could make up some logical stuff to explain it, but I feel it would be eisegetical. I don't know what was going on at this time for him to say this.
vs 7
I don't think this can be so easily read as to be referring to some idea that some people are born into legitimate rulership. That just doesn't seem to gel with what he says about cities putting people in charge who are wise etc earlier on.
vs 8-9
The thing about these little proverbs is that I don't think there is anything wrong with doing this work. He is simply observing that doing work can cause injury. It's just a way of life.
vs 10
I think this proverb is saying that while a sharpened axe is of some value, a really sharp axe in the hands of someone who doesn't know what to do with it is of little value. To use more modern terms, a pocket knife isn't as good as a scalpel, but a surgeon with a pocket knife is a hell of a lot more useful than a plumber with a scalpel, if your appendix needs to come out.
Ecclesiastes chapter 9
vs 10
See, that doesn't sound like heaven to me. It sounds like a grave. Because I'm pretty sure all those things will exist in heaven. After all, it is a remake, but fundamental principles will still apply, right? Just perfected.
vs 11
How many people in history have simply been born into the right family, or been at the right place at the right time? The serendipity of science is truly the most pathetic thing about it.
vs 12
Just as good things happen by chance, so do many bad things often happen. Who predicted the economic crisis? Did they predict it with enough certainty to escape its effects? That's the thing - you might know there's a famine coming, but what can you do? The vast majority of people won't listen. Who predicted the tsunami? Or 9/11? Regardless of whether something is natural or man made, they happen and take so many people by surprise. You can't plan for everything, good or bad.
vs 13
Ooh, it must be story time.
vs 14
Small town versus powerful king. They're goners.
vs 15
That's a boring story. What did he do? How did it work? It sounds awesome. Possibly that's the most boring way that story can be told. The poor, wise man saves the city with his wisdom! But no details. And the reason is because that's not the punchline. The punchline is that nobody remembers that poor man. Short memories, all of us.
vs 16
The fact of the anectode is to prove that wisdom is better than strength - a single wise man, though poor, defeats a powerful king's army, with all its seige works. But even though wisdom is better, it is still not remembered. It dies with the man, and drifts into the ether, just like all of man's achievements.
vs 17
Of course, no doubt you need some wisdom to tell which is which. It's a great proverb though. I think we often listen to the loudest voice (usually because it's a big group of voices) rather than the wisest voice. I'm not here advocating an anti-academia, either. Remember that academics are usually the ones that are outvoted by the "people of the pub", who suggest things like sending Aboriginals overeas and locking up refugees in detention centres.
Off topic, but I read in an article a week ago that it costs Australia about $730 a week to keep each person they have in detention locked up. That's more than my wife and I make a week. So they could actually save money by just paying each family in detention that much (then you save $730 for every person after the first) so they could afford to rent a place, buy stuff, and get their lives in order, and they would in fact have a better standard of living than me. But why don't we do that? Because of that exact reason - people can't stand that we might help people so much that they end up with a better life than what they've got. Keep shouting, fools.
vs 18
The stark contrast lies here. Wisdom might be powerful, but sin can so easily destroy anything, regardless of its power. Wisdom by itself even isn't enough to combat sin. Solomon is the obvious example!
See, that doesn't sound like heaven to me. It sounds like a grave. Because I'm pretty sure all those things will exist in heaven. After all, it is a remake, but fundamental principles will still apply, right? Just perfected.
vs 11
How many people in history have simply been born into the right family, or been at the right place at the right time? The serendipity of science is truly the most pathetic thing about it.
vs 12
Just as good things happen by chance, so do many bad things often happen. Who predicted the economic crisis? Did they predict it with enough certainty to escape its effects? That's the thing - you might know there's a famine coming, but what can you do? The vast majority of people won't listen. Who predicted the tsunami? Or 9/11? Regardless of whether something is natural or man made, they happen and take so many people by surprise. You can't plan for everything, good or bad.
vs 13
Ooh, it must be story time.
vs 14
Small town versus powerful king. They're goners.
vs 15
That's a boring story. What did he do? How did it work? It sounds awesome. Possibly that's the most boring way that story can be told. The poor, wise man saves the city with his wisdom! But no details. And the reason is because that's not the punchline. The punchline is that nobody remembers that poor man. Short memories, all of us.
vs 16
The fact of the anectode is to prove that wisdom is better than strength - a single wise man, though poor, defeats a powerful king's army, with all its seige works. But even though wisdom is better, it is still not remembered. It dies with the man, and drifts into the ether, just like all of man's achievements.
vs 17
Of course, no doubt you need some wisdom to tell which is which. It's a great proverb though. I think we often listen to the loudest voice (usually because it's a big group of voices) rather than the wisest voice. I'm not here advocating an anti-academia, either. Remember that academics are usually the ones that are outvoted by the "people of the pub", who suggest things like sending Aboriginals overeas and locking up refugees in detention centres.
Off topic, but I read in an article a week ago that it costs Australia about $730 a week to keep each person they have in detention locked up. That's more than my wife and I make a week. So they could actually save money by just paying each family in detention that much (then you save $730 for every person after the first) so they could afford to rent a place, buy stuff, and get their lives in order, and they would in fact have a better standard of living than me. But why don't we do that? Because of that exact reason - people can't stand that we might help people so much that they end up with a better life than what they've got. Keep shouting, fools.
vs 18
The stark contrast lies here. Wisdom might be powerful, but sin can so easily destroy anything, regardless of its power. Wisdom by itself even isn't enough to combat sin. Solomon is the obvious example!
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