Ecc 1:1  These are the words from the Teacher…  (God-wisdom)

Ecc 1:2  Everything is so meaningless. The Teacher (God-wisdom) says

               that it is all a waste of time!

Ecc 1:3  Do people really gain anything from all the hard work they do in

              this life?

Ecc 1:4  People live and people die, but the earth continues forever.

Ecc 1:5  The sun rises and the sun goes down, and then it hurries to rise  

              again in the same place.

Ecc 1:6 The wind blows to the south, and the wind blows to the north. The

             wind blows around and around. Then it turns and blows back to the

             place it began.

Ecc 1:7 All rivers flow again and again to the same place. They all flow to

             the sea, but the sea never becomes full.

Ecc 1:8 Words cannot fully explain things, but people continue speaking.

              Words come again and again to our ears, but our ears don't become         

              full. And our eyes don't become full of what we see.

Ecc 1:9 All things continue the way they have been since the beginning. The

              same things will be done that have always been done. There is

              nothing new in this life.

Ecc 1:10 Someone might say, "Look, this is new," but that thing has always

               been here. It was here before we were. And it will be here when

               were gone.

Ecc 1:11 People don't remember what happened long ago. And in the future,  

               they will not remember what is happening now. later other people   

               will come and not remember what the people before them did.

Ecc 1:14 I have seen everything that is done under the sun. Look at it!

                It's all pointless. It's like trying to catch the wind.

Ecc 1:15 No one can straighten what is bent. No one can count what is not

                there.  So why even try..

Ecc 2:1 I said to myself, "I should have fun--I should enjoy everything as

               much as I can." But I learned that this is also useless.

Ecc 2:2  It is foolish to laugh all the time. Having fun does not do any good.

Ecc 2:3  So I decided to fill my body with wine while I filled my mind with

                wisdom. I tried this foolishness because I wanted to find a

               way to be happy. I wanted to see what was good for people to do

               during their few days of life.

 

 

Ecc 2:11  But then I looked at everything I had done and the wealth I had

                 gained. I decided it was all a waste of time! It was like trying to

                 catch the wind. There is nothing to gain from anything we do in

                 this life.

 

 Wow when I read those verses I thought to myself, how seemingly true. How appropriate these thoughts? My my what a mess, what irony, what futility is life?

Then I felt as if God said look again, read again, Maybe you need to look at this world again and see things from a new perspective?

Listen to creation and experience this time with a bit more sensitivity and heart, with more appreciation and reverence.

You just might see things differently?  

 

Ecc 2:13  I saw that wisdom is better than foolishness in the same way that

                 light is better than darkness.

         :14  Wise people use their minds like eyes to see where they are going.  

                But fools, act as if they are walking in the dark.  

 

Listen with your heart and mind (wisdom) and not just your ears?

Realize this present physical reality is so temporal, but the unseen and unheard is more eternal? Life here was never meant to be with such significance that it over shadows the eternal?

 

Hey are we listening to the teacher?

 

Ecc 2:24  There is no one who has tried to enjoy life more than I have. And this is what I learned: The best thing people can do is eat, drink, and enjoy the work they must do and the life they must live. I also see and believe that these are Gods gifts to us!      Amen