Pain
2008-03-18

Psalms for today: 18, 48, 78, 108, 138

He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children,
that the next generation might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God,
but keep his commandments;
and that they should not be like their fathers,
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
whose spirit was not faithful to God.--Psalm 78:5-8

Whew. That was all one sentence. I fear we have lost this tradition. The tradition of "story-telling," of passing down truths from generation to generation. Today, we seem to just let each generation "discover truth" wherever they may. That's why there is no "definitive truth," or at least that's what a majority of people think. It's getting more and more difficult to get people to see that they need Jesus.

Here's an interesting note that I never noticed before. In the "Sermon on the Mount," (Matthew 5-7), there are three distinct sections. The first, 5:1-16, basically describes the characteristics of true discipleship. The third section, 7:13-29 is kind of a warning to those who will not heed the teachings of Jesus. Here is the cool part. The second section, 5:17-7-12 is bracketed by the phrase "the Law and the Prophets. In 5:17, Jesus says, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets;" and in 7:12, he says, "So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets."
This is actually a literary device called an inclusio, where the beginning and ending of a teaching section mirror one another. In between, the line of thought fleshes out what the brackets summarize.
So there you go. No extra charge for that.

Day 117

Ecclesiastes 7:2-3

You learn more at a funeral than at a feast--
After all, that's where we'll end up. We might discover something from it.

Crying is better than laughing.
It blotches the face but it scours the heart.


Well, now. That's uplifting, isn't it?

Seriously, though, there are some deep truths in these verses, depressing as they seem on the surface.

I think I agree with the statement that you learn more at a funeral then at a feast. You can learn a lot at either one, if you are attentive, but at a funeral, everyone's guard is down, especially those closest to the deceased. You learn a lot about people's philosophy of death at a funeral. Do they seem hopeless or hopeful? I have seen funerals of believers that seemed more like celebrations. I distinctly remember one in which I was actually envious of the person who had died. And we will all end up the main event at a funeral, unless Christ returns before then.

Is crying better than laughing? Both are good. But I like what he says about crying..."it scours the heart." I looked up "scours." One of the definitions is "to clear or rid of what is undesirable." Hm. Does crying do that?

How many times have you had a good cry? How did your heart feel after that? There is a certain cleansing to it.


Father, teach me. Teach me about our "final destination." We will physically die unless you return soon. But our souls will continue. Nevertheless, there is worldly sorrow upon death. Prepare us for this. Prepare us for any sorrow we might experience.

Make me not afraid to cry. I praise you, Father, for making me a person who realizes that, yes, "real men" do cry!


C.S.Lewis wrote, "God whispers to us in our joy and shouts to us in our pain." (The Problem of Pain, p. 91)

Don't go looking for pain, but when it comes, embrace it. Listen for the shout of God through it. And don't be ashamed to cry. It's cleansing.

Grace and peace, friends.



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