See previous blogs for the rationale for these posts. We are dealing today with Ecclesiastes 7:15-18. This falls into a larger context in which Solomon is dealing with living in moderation. This section began in verse 14. The author is going to tell his readers to understand the importance of living a wise (righteous) life without relying on it to shield one from the vagaries of life. The "quest" motif continues here with the "I have seen" (v. 15), "I have tested"(v. 23), "I turned" (v. 25), has sought (v. 28) and "not found" (vv. 27-29).
Verse 15 begins: "In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: a righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness. (Eccle 7:15 NIV) Without a long interpretative rendition of this verse. Let us suffice to say that Solomon is not talking about false righteousness. The parallel is not to a false wickedness. The author is urging us to accept the fact that in life the generalities of Job and Proverbs, the law of retribution, don't always hold true in specific instances. "Meaningless" (NIV) has the idea of "fleeting" or "vaporous."
Verse 16 states: "Do not be overrighteous,neither be overwise--why destroy yourself?" (Eccle. 7:16 NIV) The rendering "destroy yourself" here is unfortunate. The idea is to be "astounded" or "confounded." Several things come forth from this. Overzealousness or excessive wisdom is a way of warding off anxiety. That is perhaps one aspect of this but the reliance upon righteousness and wisdom as a sort of talisman will lead to disappointment We all like predictability but we live in an unpredictable world.
Verse 17 says: "Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool--why die before your time?" (Eccle 7:17 NIV) It is very easy to be lured in to doing wrong if the consequences are slow in coming to a climax. Solomon warns that the general rule is that wrongdoing is punished. The law of retribution still stands (c.f. 3:17) . Solomon warns that this lifestyle will end in tragedy early.
Verse 18 states: "It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all extremes." (Eccle 7:18 NIV) Solomon is saying that life is a mixture. We can never do everything perfectly. We cannot be perfectly righteous and wise (c.f. 7:20, 27-29). But also this should not lead us to a life of sin with no thought for wisdom and righteousness or more importantly half-hearted obedience (c.f. 8:14)
What are the applications for those who struggle with addiction and compulsivity? Excessive righteousness can be a panacea for the addictive/compulsive person. It becomes a replacement addiction. We call it addiction interaction or symptom replacement. Also righteousness and wisdom can become a manipulative tool in the hands of the addict. It is an attempt to manipulate God, Our Higher Power and others into doing what we want. We think delusionally that things will be better if we can mould the world and everyone in it into our way of thinking. Righteousness and wisdom don't work that way. We learn to humbly come into full contact with the world and everything it presents, relying on our higher power, yielding ourselves and our will to him.
The obverse is many times true. when the world doesn't fit into our frame of reference (and by the way it never will) we launch like a sling-shot into excessive acting out because life: someone or something, doesn't go our way. When righteousness can't mould the world to our way of thinking, we think that the tool doesn't work. It never was a tool to begin with. It's a way of life that comes from our higher power when we yield our lives and will to him. Have you ever acted out in anger because: "life isn't fair," "He (or she) hurt me," "being 'good' doesn't doesn't help," " my wife (or husband) still left and now I'm all alone?" Addictive and compulsive people will find almost any excuse to act out. Solomon warns that while retribution may be unpredictable in its timing it is sure in its execution. Aldous Huxley stated in A Brave New World: "logical consequences are the scarecrows of fools and the beacons of wise men." Claudia Black an addiction and recovery specialist says: "You chose your behaviors, the world chooses your consequences." The wise man will manage his consequences well. He will not try to deny them or change them but live through them, learning the lessons from them that God our higher power has for us to learn.
Our time is up for today please come back next week. Keep coming back it works if you work it and you are worth it.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
The Solomon Project: Ecclesiastes 7:7-14
This blog is written for those who struggle with addiction and compulsivity. It is a blog that attempts to apply the ancient book of Ecclesiastes from the Bible to the struggles of addiction and compulsivity. The attempt is to seek to apply it to a broad range of religious beliefs. However you may perceive God I hope that you will find in this blog some measure of wisdom in dealing with addictive and compulsive behavior. Thanks for taking the time to read it.
Today we continue on in chapter 7. We will look at verses 7-14. This section is part of a proverb section that goes back to the question of 6:12 "For who knows what is good for a man in life, during the few and meaningless days he passes through like a shadow? (6:12a NIV)
Let us turn to the text to see what Solomon has to teach us about what is good. We have seen that Ending life with a good name and observing with respect the lives of those who pass has a refining influence on us in verses 1-6 in this chapter. The author begins with a series of proverbs about life.
Verse 7:7 says: "Extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart." (Eccle 7:7 NIV cf. Ps 15:5) Even if the wise are superior to the fools, referring back to verse 6, they are susceptible to bribery. Why? because fools probably are not going to be put in places of authority, but the wise generally will be placed in such positions as the judges and city officials as in Solomon's time.
Bribes can take many forms we think generally of monetary bribes, but sex can be a form of bribery, as well as the adulation from someone. Bribes blind and they bind. Extortion has the idea of oppression here. Even with wisdom people will face both adversity (oppression) and prosperity (bribery). The wise person will find a skillful way to walk uprightly between these two temptations.
Verse 7:8 says: "The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride." (Eccle 7:8 NIV) Patience will usually provide a better outcome than pride. Pride could easily be a snare for one facing either adversity or prosperity and make one susceptible to extortion or bribery. It is far better to have patience in dealing with these two entrapments. Patience shows maturity and wisdom.
Verse 7:9 says: "Do not be quickly provoked in you spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools." (Eccle 7:9 NIV) The metaphor here provides the concept clearly. When something is in your lap, it is held. The lap is a precarious place thus you will always have to be aware of it. residing means that is has made a home with you. We are warned other places to be "slow to anger and slow to speak" (James 1:19) This surely is a strong admonition fitting in with verse 6:12 concerning what is good for a man.
Verse 7:10 says: "Do not say, "why were the old days better than these?" For it is not wise to ask such questions." (Eccle 7:10 NIV) May father who grew up in the depression says "The old days were all that good" He is a wise man. Those who face adversity might pine for the old days. Living in sentimentality only ties you to the past. Quite frankly outside of perhaps wishing to be younger (although I feel 35 mentally ans psychologically) I do not wish to return to what might be termed the good old days because they weren't that good for me either. Wistful pining for a past time ties one to that era. It no longer exists. You can't go back. A healthy objective historical perspective can guide our present lives but nostalgia is only good for the connection of emotions to a former era.
Verse 7:11 says: "Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun." (Eccle 7:11 NIV) The "like" here should be understood as "with" Early on Solomon talked about inheritance (2:21). Wisdom with an inheritance is a good thing in that coupled together they are of benefit. Both can be used to strengthen or enhance the life of the possessor.
Verse 7:12 says: "Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: that wisdom preserves the life of its possessor." (Eccle 7:12 NIV). The reverse of this corollary is that wealth will not preserve the life of its possessor. However the conclusion of this proverb is that wisdom has a preservation effect. Living life skillfully surely can help one to live a long and fruitful life. shelter here had the idea of shade. In other words its provides a respite from the adverse effects the environment brings upon us. Money can do this but more so wisdom.
Verse 13 says: "Consider what God has done; Who can straighten what he has made crooked?" (Eccle 7:13 NIV) This hearkens back to 1:15 "What is twisted cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted." (Eccle 1:15 NIV) Consider what god has done. Do not try to change it, do not attempt to live in the past, do not act or respond foolishly to adversity, God mixes both prosperity and adversity, good and bad. It all works together to become a beautiful tapestry of life.
Verse 14 says: "When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future." (Eccle 7:14 NIV) There is an immutable and inscrutable nature to life. We don't even know the future how can we change it? We enjoy life as it is and we "consider" both are from God. Job rhetorically asks the question "should we not accept good from God, and not trouble?" (Job 2:11). In "considering" We can learn from both the good and the evil. This hearkens back to the passage we have referred to before Ecclesiastes 6:12 "For who knows what is good for a man in life, during the few and meaningless day he passes through like a shadow" Who can tell him what will happen under the sun after he is gone?" (Eccle 6:12 NIV)
In addiction and compulsivity there are many facets here that apply. We all face prosperity and adversity. Addictive and compulsive behaviors are used by all of us to one extent or another to control emotions. In prosperity we "think" we have the right to celebrate. In Adversity we "think" we have the right to use and abuse because we need it to cope. Either way the behavior is pathological. Here steps 1-3 enter in. If we are in recovery we can and must return to seeing how powerlessness and turning our lives and will over to the care of God. The key element that is here is as we understand him. We can understand him but not fully. This takes an act of faith to throw ourselves fully into the arms of the creator submitting our lives and will to his care. Recovery is a spiritual exercise. When we are able to accept both good and evil prosperity and adversity in our lives then we less likely to attempt to reorder the universe to fit our addicted minds and personalities.
Our time is up for today. So until next week, keep coming back it works if you work and you are worth it.
Today we continue on in chapter 7. We will look at verses 7-14. This section is part of a proverb section that goes back to the question of 6:12 "For who knows what is good for a man in life, during the few and meaningless days he passes through like a shadow? (6:12a NIV)
Let us turn to the text to see what Solomon has to teach us about what is good. We have seen that Ending life with a good name and observing with respect the lives of those who pass has a refining influence on us in verses 1-6 in this chapter. The author begins with a series of proverbs about life.
Verse 7:7 says: "Extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart." (Eccle 7:7 NIV cf. Ps 15:5) Even if the wise are superior to the fools, referring back to verse 6, they are susceptible to bribery. Why? because fools probably are not going to be put in places of authority, but the wise generally will be placed in such positions as the judges and city officials as in Solomon's time.
Bribes can take many forms we think generally of monetary bribes, but sex can be a form of bribery, as well as the adulation from someone. Bribes blind and they bind. Extortion has the idea of oppression here. Even with wisdom people will face both adversity (oppression) and prosperity (bribery). The wise person will find a skillful way to walk uprightly between these two temptations.
Verse 7:8 says: "The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride." (Eccle 7:8 NIV) Patience will usually provide a better outcome than pride. Pride could easily be a snare for one facing either adversity or prosperity and make one susceptible to extortion or bribery. It is far better to have patience in dealing with these two entrapments. Patience shows maturity and wisdom.
Verse 7:9 says: "Do not be quickly provoked in you spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools." (Eccle 7:9 NIV) The metaphor here provides the concept clearly. When something is in your lap, it is held. The lap is a precarious place thus you will always have to be aware of it. residing means that is has made a home with you. We are warned other places to be "slow to anger and slow to speak" (James 1:19) This surely is a strong admonition fitting in with verse 6:12 concerning what is good for a man.
Verse 7:10 says: "Do not say, "why were the old days better than these?" For it is not wise to ask such questions." (Eccle 7:10 NIV) May father who grew up in the depression says "The old days were all that good" He is a wise man. Those who face adversity might pine for the old days. Living in sentimentality only ties you to the past. Quite frankly outside of perhaps wishing to be younger (although I feel 35 mentally ans psychologically) I do not wish to return to what might be termed the good old days because they weren't that good for me either. Wistful pining for a past time ties one to that era. It no longer exists. You can't go back. A healthy objective historical perspective can guide our present lives but nostalgia is only good for the connection of emotions to a former era.
Verse 7:11 says: "Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun." (Eccle 7:11 NIV) The "like" here should be understood as "with" Early on Solomon talked about inheritance (2:21). Wisdom with an inheritance is a good thing in that coupled together they are of benefit. Both can be used to strengthen or enhance the life of the possessor.
Verse 7:12 says: "Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: that wisdom preserves the life of its possessor." (Eccle 7:12 NIV). The reverse of this corollary is that wealth will not preserve the life of its possessor. However the conclusion of this proverb is that wisdom has a preservation effect. Living life skillfully surely can help one to live a long and fruitful life. shelter here had the idea of shade. In other words its provides a respite from the adverse effects the environment brings upon us. Money can do this but more so wisdom.
Verse 13 says: "Consider what God has done; Who can straighten what he has made crooked?" (Eccle 7:13 NIV) This hearkens back to 1:15 "What is twisted cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted." (Eccle 1:15 NIV) Consider what god has done. Do not try to change it, do not attempt to live in the past, do not act or respond foolishly to adversity, God mixes both prosperity and adversity, good and bad. It all works together to become a beautiful tapestry of life.
Verse 14 says: "When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future." (Eccle 7:14 NIV) There is an immutable and inscrutable nature to life. We don't even know the future how can we change it? We enjoy life as it is and we "consider" both are from God. Job rhetorically asks the question "should we not accept good from God, and not trouble?" (Job 2:11). In "considering" We can learn from both the good and the evil. This hearkens back to the passage we have referred to before Ecclesiastes 6:12 "For who knows what is good for a man in life, during the few and meaningless day he passes through like a shadow" Who can tell him what will happen under the sun after he is gone?" (Eccle 6:12 NIV)
In addiction and compulsivity there are many facets here that apply. We all face prosperity and adversity. Addictive and compulsive behaviors are used by all of us to one extent or another to control emotions. In prosperity we "think" we have the right to celebrate. In Adversity we "think" we have the right to use and abuse because we need it to cope. Either way the behavior is pathological. Here steps 1-3 enter in. If we are in recovery we can and must return to seeing how powerlessness and turning our lives and will over to the care of God. The key element that is here is as we understand him. We can understand him but not fully. This takes an act of faith to throw ourselves fully into the arms of the creator submitting our lives and will to his care. Recovery is a spiritual exercise. When we are able to accept both good and evil prosperity and adversity in our lives then we less likely to attempt to reorder the universe to fit our addicted minds and personalities.
Our time is up for today. So until next week, keep coming back it works if you work and you are worth it.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
The Solomon Project: Ecclesiastes 7:1-6
This blog as most of you know is the application of the Old Testament book of the Bible Ecclesiastes to those who suffer from addiction and compulsion especially sexual addiction. It is designed to be applicable to all religious persuasions. The wisdom found in it can be applied to anyone, anywhere at anytime.
Life is a long time--usually. Ecclesiastes 7:1 says: "A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth." (Eccles. 7:1 NIV). These two concepts do not at first appear to have any relevance. A closer look into the metaphor reveals that one's life may carry a pleasing response from those who come in contact with the individual. Perfume is a powerful stimulus. Smell impulses do not go through the thalamus but go directly to the olfactory center of the cortex. In other words it bypasses the relay station. Thus smell is a particularly quick and powerful sensation that creates memory. Smell travels to the hypothalamus and affects appetite, sleep, emotion and much more.
The author is relating the parallel to a man's life. It can have a tremendous influence. The day of death can certainly be better than the day of birth. The day of birth is full of potential. The day of death is a remembrance of potential realized, or unrealized. This week we have seen the deaths of Michael Jackson and Steve McNair remembered. There have been 36 deaths incurred by coalition forces in Operation Enduring Freedom this month. How are those who gave their lives in defense of freedom being remembered? Hopefully as powerful aromas of character and sacrifice.
Solomon, the author goes on in the following verses to reflect on the end and uncertainty of life. Verse 2 reads: "It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart." (Eccles. 7:2 NIV) This is an introductory phrase following the metaphorical riddle of verse 1. Why is it better? The reflection on a life well-lived is better than any attempt to live a life of diversion through the consumption of food and drink.
Verse 3 reads: "Frustration is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart." (Eccles. 7:3 NIV) Frustration here has the idea of grief or vexation. Compare Moses' concept of a heart of wisdom in Ps. 90:12. The following verse is a parallel thought to verse 2: "The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure." (Eccles. 7:4 NIV) the heart here has the idea of reflection, and moral decision and action (Prov. 4:23). The author is saying that fools spend their time in distracting behavior but the wise spend their time in the attitude of a funeral or in contemplation of death. In the context of the opening verse. It is not so much the obsession with death but the aroma or fragrance of a life well-lived that that is the focus. These types of sober reflections become the "goads" of 12:11.
Let us stop here and make some timely applications. Several points of view may be in order. First, for those who may be on the outside looking into the recovery community. You may be spending your time in obsessive pleasure racing from one addictive encounter to the next. You see only the distractive pleasures. If you want what we have in the recovery community it is a gift free for the taking.
For those of us in the recovery community These verses urge us on to strategically execute a life well-lived. Longfellow said: "Look not mournfully into the past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future, without fear." (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) We cannot recapture the past nor can we go back and change it. This perspective urges us to live each moment as if our life were an aroma or fragrance to impact others. Step twelve urges us to do just that: "Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others and to practice these principles in all our affairs." If we have achieved some measure of success as a result of turning our lives and our will over to the care of God, we are obligated and challenged to help others. This results in a life lived not in the continuous obsessive search for gratification, but a life lived in service to others. This is truly a perfume that will have a lasting impact on others.
Verses 5-6 give us an irritating and shocking example of what the fool's speech is like. Verse 5 says: "It is better to heed the rebuke of a wise person than to listen to the song of fools." (Eccles. 7:5 NIV) Solomon begins by reiterating in verse 5 that not only should we observe the life of the wise person but listen to their words of wisdom as well. They may not be as soothing as music, but their Pathways of knowledge are better than well sounding and lyrically spoken words of fools. Verse 6 says: "Like the crackling of thorns under the pot so is the laughter of fools, this too is meaningless." (Eccles. 7:6 NIV) This has to do not so much with the quick-burning twigs used as kindling but the parallel to verse 5 and the lyrical, enchanting speech of the fool. Really his voice is like the crackling sound twigs make when burning. There is no substance but only a cackling sound. Irritating to the ears and shocking when it happens.
What is our speech like? Are we still speaking like fools, acting out whenever possible, making relentless promises to quit our addictive and compulsive behavior or are we the wise person having regained our sanity, able to speak wise words and words of truth to those who need to hear it.
I commit myself to executing a life well-lived, attempting not perfection but excellence in my speech not for the rest of my life but for this moment, this hour, this day.
Our time is up for today. Keep coming back it works if you work it and you're worth it.
Life is a long time--usually. Ecclesiastes 7:1 says: "A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth." (Eccles. 7:1 NIV). These two concepts do not at first appear to have any relevance. A closer look into the metaphor reveals that one's life may carry a pleasing response from those who come in contact with the individual. Perfume is a powerful stimulus. Smell impulses do not go through the thalamus but go directly to the olfactory center of the cortex. In other words it bypasses the relay station. Thus smell is a particularly quick and powerful sensation that creates memory. Smell travels to the hypothalamus and affects appetite, sleep, emotion and much more.
The author is relating the parallel to a man's life. It can have a tremendous influence. The day of death can certainly be better than the day of birth. The day of birth is full of potential. The day of death is a remembrance of potential realized, or unrealized. This week we have seen the deaths of Michael Jackson and Steve McNair remembered. There have been 36 deaths incurred by coalition forces in Operation Enduring Freedom this month. How are those who gave their lives in defense of freedom being remembered? Hopefully as powerful aromas of character and sacrifice.
Solomon, the author goes on in the following verses to reflect on the end and uncertainty of life. Verse 2 reads: "It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart." (Eccles. 7:2 NIV) This is an introductory phrase following the metaphorical riddle of verse 1. Why is it better? The reflection on a life well-lived is better than any attempt to live a life of diversion through the consumption of food and drink.
Verse 3 reads: "Frustration is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart." (Eccles. 7:3 NIV) Frustration here has the idea of grief or vexation. Compare Moses' concept of a heart of wisdom in Ps. 90:12. The following verse is a parallel thought to verse 2: "The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure." (Eccles. 7:4 NIV) the heart here has the idea of reflection, and moral decision and action (Prov. 4:23). The author is saying that fools spend their time in distracting behavior but the wise spend their time in the attitude of a funeral or in contemplation of death. In the context of the opening verse. It is not so much the obsession with death but the aroma or fragrance of a life well-lived that that is the focus. These types of sober reflections become the "goads" of 12:11.
Let us stop here and make some timely applications. Several points of view may be in order. First, for those who may be on the outside looking into the recovery community. You may be spending your time in obsessive pleasure racing from one addictive encounter to the next. You see only the distractive pleasures. If you want what we have in the recovery community it is a gift free for the taking.
For those of us in the recovery community These verses urge us on to strategically execute a life well-lived. Longfellow said: "Look not mournfully into the past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future, without fear." (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) We cannot recapture the past nor can we go back and change it. This perspective urges us to live each moment as if our life were an aroma or fragrance to impact others. Step twelve urges us to do just that: "Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others and to practice these principles in all our affairs." If we have achieved some measure of success as a result of turning our lives and our will over to the care of God, we are obligated and challenged to help others. This results in a life lived not in the continuous obsessive search for gratification, but a life lived in service to others. This is truly a perfume that will have a lasting impact on others.
Verses 5-6 give us an irritating and shocking example of what the fool's speech is like. Verse 5 says: "It is better to heed the rebuke of a wise person than to listen to the song of fools." (Eccles. 7:5 NIV) Solomon begins by reiterating in verse 5 that not only should we observe the life of the wise person but listen to their words of wisdom as well. They may not be as soothing as music, but their Pathways of knowledge are better than well sounding and lyrically spoken words of fools. Verse 6 says: "Like the crackling of thorns under the pot so is the laughter of fools, this too is meaningless." (Eccles. 7:6 NIV) This has to do not so much with the quick-burning twigs used as kindling but the parallel to verse 5 and the lyrical, enchanting speech of the fool. Really his voice is like the crackling sound twigs make when burning. There is no substance but only a cackling sound. Irritating to the ears and shocking when it happens.
What is our speech like? Are we still speaking like fools, acting out whenever possible, making relentless promises to quit our addictive and compulsive behavior or are we the wise person having regained our sanity, able to speak wise words and words of truth to those who need to hear it.
I commit myself to executing a life well-lived, attempting not perfection but excellence in my speech not for the rest of my life but for this moment, this hour, this day.
Our time is up for today. Keep coming back it works if you work it and you're worth it.
Monday, July 6, 2009
The Solomon Project: Ecclesiastes
No new blog this week in lieu of the 4th of July weekend. Come back next week to continue our meditations on the Book of Ecclesiastes. This blog is an application of the Biblical Book of Ecclesiastes for addictive and compulsive people. It is an attempt to help people both men and women from all religious faiths deal more appropriately with addictive and compulsive issues in their lives especially sexual addiction. Thank you.
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