NIPTO, Day 272

Hello!
Today has been fantastic so far!

Got up (way late! love sleeping in...), ate breakfast, got ready for the day... sat around and talked for a long time. Ate lunch. And then we headed out to see Inception! It's at the dollar theater, and it's SOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOD. I wasn't sure what to expect going into it, except for the fact that it's kind of a psychological thriller. And it was. It was so good. If you haven't seen it, get yourself down to Movies 10 in North Canton and see the movie. It's so good. That's all I can type about it. It's fantastico.

So now we're home from that. I got myself caught up on the blogs that I read and now am blogging while the rest of the fam is on a walk. So. I'm going to get down to NIPTO! :)

Ecclesiastes 6:1-12

 ¹ I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on mankind: ² God gives some people wealth, possessions and honor, so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them, and strangers enjoy them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil.

Ecclesiastes is perplexing. I keep getting the gist that we're supposed to enjoy what we have because it's from God. But this is saying that some people aren't given the ability to enjoy what they have. It's just... perplexing. 

 ³ A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. ⁴ It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded. ⁵ Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man— ⁶ even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?

This is sooooo interesting! And slightly strange. But it's an analogy. 

If someone lives a long time and has a lot of children but can't enjoy their prosperity is worse off than a baby that is stillborn. The stillborn baby didn't have anything to enjoy in the womb. Its name is shrouded in darkness. Even though it never saw the sun or knew anything it would rest more than the man who had the "stuff" but failed to enjoy it did. Hm. Interesting. 

 ⁷ Everyone’s toil is for their mouth,
   yet their appetite is never satisfied. 

Everyone who works for themselves will never be satisfied. That's the short and simple truth. You'll always want more. 

⁸ What advantage have the wise over fools?
What do the poor gain
   by knowing how to conduct themselves before others?
⁹ Better what the eye sees
   than the roving of the appetite.
This too is meaningless,
   a chasing after the wind.

The wise don't have much of an advantage over fools. (If any. But in my opinion, they do. Being wise gives you leverage. Or something like that.) What do the poor gain by knowing how to conduct themselves? They're still poor. They don't really gain anything.

I'm not exactly sure what verse 9 is... what it's saying. What it means. I'm not even going to attempt it because something garbled will probably come out. All I can tell you, if you figure out what it says, is that it's meaningless. Like chasing the wind. (That's a big theme in Ecclesiastes. Hah.)

 ¹⁰ Whatever exists has already been named,
   and what humanity is has been known;
no one can contend
   with someone who is stronger.
¹¹ The more the words,
   the less the meaning,
   and how does that profit anyone?

What exists has been named. What humanity is has already been known. And you won't win a fight against someone who's stronger than you.

The more words you have, the less meaning they have. And that doesn't help anyone, now does it? (And I'm leaving it at that. More meaning, ya know? haha)

 ¹² For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days they pass through like a shadow? Who can tell them what will happen under the sun after they are gone?


Who knows what's good in life during the "few and meaningless days" that we're here? Who can tell others what will happen on earth when they're gone? No one. Boo to the Yah. 


My fambly is home. So now I think I'm going to go do whatever they're doing. Which might actually involve homework. Huh. I still have a little bit of that to do. (A couple chapters of reading in Uncle Tom's Cabin. Not a big deal! Oh. I also have to study for Spanish some... meh. That's a bigger deal. Hah.)
Adios my readers! Have a good rest of your Saturday!