Life Times

Which do you prefer, sorrow or laughter?

A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death, than the day of birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting; for this is the end of everyone, and the living will lay it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of countenance the heart is made glad. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools. For like the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of fools; this also is vanity. Surely oppression makes the wise foolish, and a bribe corrupts the heart. Better is the end of a thing than its beginning; the patient in spirit are better than the proud in spirit. Do not be quick to anger, for anger lodges in the bosom of fools. Do not say, "Why were the former days better than these?" For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. Wisdom is as good as an inheritance, an advantage to those who see the sun. For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom gives life to the one who possesses it. Consider the work of God; who can make straight what he has made crooked? In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider; God has made the one as well as the other, so that mortals may not find out anything that will come after them. -Eccles. 7:1-14

For me, laughter is king.  I love to laugh and love to make other people laugh. 

This is one of those pieces of scripture I struggle to understand, not because it is complicated, but because it is upside down in my mind.

Why wouldn't I prefer to laugh than cry?

Why wouldn't I prefer the day of birth than the day of death?

Is the author trying to confuse me or is something else going on here?

I think he is trying to get our attention, and it is working.  We want to know why he feels this way, and he gets into it a bit when he talks about wisdom and the work of God.

Wisdom, he says is an advantage to those who see the sun.  Does he mean for any of us who venture out from our homes or from our darkness and solitude?

I think he wants to wake us up a bit, to make us think about all God provides, both good and bad, and have us accept rather than judge this world.

You could say, "It is what it is."

We live but a short life compared to the age of the universe, and yet our lives are long when compared to a butterfly.  Should we spend our days complaining about the time we don't have?

Or should we praise God for the time we have?

It may be that we don't truly value what we have until there is very little of it left.

So, eat, drink and be merry, he tells us.  

That may be good advice.

More to come...