secure in wisdom

²¹ My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight,
preserve sound judgment and discretion;
²² they will be life for you,
an ornament to grace your neck.
²³ Then you will go on your way in safety,
and your foot will not stumble.

Absence diminishes small loves and increases
great ones, as the wind blows out the candle
and fans the bonfire....Francois Duc De La Rochef

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOMgDbcA84Aoucauld.

A good name [is] better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth.

A Good name






who they know you as



Is better than precious ointment









Or what you look like


The Day of death


when people remember who you where

better than

One's birth

Meaningless

Chasing a dream
So many things
Capture my affection
Running ahead I've been a mess
Loosing my perspective
This is my obsession
Always chasing the wind

Left with nothing in the end

It's meaningless without you
Meaningless these treasures I possess
Only you can satisfy
Only you sustain my life
Without you
It's meaningless

Feeling you near
It's coming clear
You've got my attention
Filling the void
Killing the noise
Focus my direction
With intimate insistence
You overwhelm my senses
All I need is before me now

I'm breathing but I can't survive
I'm living but I'm not alive
without You

YouTube: Meaningless

Ecclesiastes 2: 8

I amassed silver and gold for myself,

and the treasure of kings and provinces.

I acquired men and women singers and a harem as well

the delights of the heart of man.

Ecclesiastes 2:11

Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done ,

and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 2:17

So I hated life,

because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me.

All of it is meaningless,

a chasing after the wind.

Ecclesiastes 4:7

Again I saw something meaningless under the sun

Ecclesiastes 12:13

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

Fear God and keep His commandments,

For this is man’s all

Harold and Maude

Harold and Maude is a cult film that came out in 1971. The story is about a 19-year-old boy named Harold who is very rich, but does not care about his mother's wealth and is very interested in death. He constantly fakes suicide around the house to scare his mother and instead of attending parties (7:2) he attends funerals of people he does not know, arriving there in his very own hurse. His mother sets him up on blind dates but scares every girl away by "commiting suicide." He also gets his hurse taken away and is replaced by a jaguar, but he again converts it into a hurse. After attending a few funerals he meets an old woman who teaches him about life and living everyday to the fullest. (11:8-9) Her name is Maude and she fits chapter 11:8 because she is bubbly and fun and care-free and lives her life to the fullest and wants to share her experiences and thoughts on life with Harold. She even steals a cop car!

The movie reminded me of many passages in Ecclesiastes. Harold focuses on death and could careless about being rich and wealthy. Maude goes to funerals to experience life and cherish every single day since she is old. Both subjects are spoken by Qohelet several times.

7:2-4

Better to spend your time at funerals than at parties. After all everyone dies-

so the living should take this to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us. A wise person thinks a lot about death, while a fool thinks only about having a good time.

11:8

When people live to be very old, let them rejoice in every day of life.

11:9

Young people, it's important to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do, take it all in.

Breathe Something Beautiful

Look into the Sky, as far as eyes can see
frozen in time, and captured by your beauty
none can compare, from the depth of the sea
to the rising of the sun, true breathe of clarity.

So take a breathe of something beautiful
and sing it to me for the whole word to see.

How can i stand, and not be moved
when words can't describe the awe of it all
the stars that light the sky, the wind that touches me
has never felt so free, true breathe of clarity.

The Afternote: http://www.myspace.com/theafternote

3:11-14 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil--this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.

5:2 Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.

5:7 Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore stand in awe of God.

5:19 Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work--this is a gift of God.

8:15 So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun.

8:17 then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all his efforts to search it out, man cannot discover its meaning. Even if a wise man claims he knows, he cannot really comprehend it.

9:7 Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do.

9:9-10 Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun-- all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, [fn] where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

11:5 As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.

11:7-9 Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.However many years a man may live, let him enjoy them all. But let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything to come is meaningless.Be happy, young man, while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment.

This song is about acknowledging God's creation and the gift of life that God has given us. We see in verse 5:7 "Much dreaming and many words are meaningless. Therefore stand in awe of God." We can not understand or comprehend what the Lord has done, or add or take away to what God has done.

Meaningless- Sixpence None The Richer... Happy April Fool's Day

Sixpence None The Richer- Meaningless

History merely repeats itself (Eccl. 3:15)
Nothing in this world is truly new
The sea churns as it feeds from the river at its mouth (Eccl. 1:7)
The wind blows across the land from north to south (Eccl. 1:6)
The laboring man spends his life getting nowhere

Meaningless
It's all meaningless
All my life and labor is foolish
And now I don't have a reason anymore

Come now be merry drink your drink (Eccl 5:18; 8:15)
Devour your feast don't stop to think
Tomorrow you could be gone far away
So gather ye rosebuds while he may
Tomorrow you could like in a silent grave
Pawing the dust and awaiting the end of time (Eccl. 3:20)

Fear your God this is all I know (Eccl 12:13)

Meaningless
It's all meaningless
All my life and labor is foolish
And now, I don't have a reason
A reason to live anymore

Ecclesiastes 1:6 “The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course.”
Ecclesiastes 1:7 “All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again.”
Ecclesiastes 3:15 “Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.”
Ecclesiastes 3:20 “All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.”
Ecclesiastes 5:18 “Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him--for this is his lot.”
Ecclesiastes 8:15 “So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun.”
Ecclesiastes 12:13 “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”

This song is about the meaninglessness of life and the idea that one must try to live a happy life now because tomorrow is not promised to us. It mentions the fear of God which is one of the major themes in Ecclesiastes. Thinking that work and life is meaningless may make a person think that they have no reason to live since work is life and life is work. Through work comes joy as long as the fruits of our labor are shared with others and not hoarded for ourselves. Though this song ends on a sad note our lives do not have to. We can enjoy the simple pleasures in life that can bring happiness temporarily but in all we do we must exalt God as sovereign because just as the song writer says “Fear your God this is all I know” in reality this is all we should know. Happy April Fool’s Day!

-Natalia Alcantara