Sleeping Monkey Presents...
Alienation and Reconciliation
Mar 13 2007Student Cell was good tonight. We were looking at being lost, and relating it to Genesis 3:7-19. It covered six topics – Self alienation, spiritual alienation, relational alienation, physical alienation, ecological alienation and vocational alienation. Long words, eh? But there was lots of discussion etc and it was really good. It then moved on to looking at reconciliation of the six points above, again more good discussion. It finished around half 10, thats late for a cell!
On a different topic, we found this verse at Fusion, and I thought I’d post it on here to get some responses (not that many people read this blog).
Ecclesiastes 10:19 says “A party makes you feel good, wine makes you feel happy, and money buys anything.”
What does it mean by that? It says later on that money is the root of evil, money can’t buy everything, etc, but what does that particular verse mean? Even reading it in context (ie the whole of the chapter around it) it still doesn’t seem to change its actual meaning…
Any ideas?
Ineke
you found that verse at fusion and only posting it now? :P
and what was “not that many people read this blog” about? :S
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Livi
I think the writer was musing and perhaps being a bit sarcastic, as he also goes on about how everything on the earth is useless, which isn’t completely true! I think it’s like a journey, he goes from bitter, confused and lost, to an answer “Conclusion: follow God”.
was that any help?
Toni
Solomon probably wrote that.
He had immense wisdom, yet in the end gave in to foolishness and the persuasion of his foreign wives to walk away from God. It’s thought that looking back, he realised he’d missed it, and all the ‘meaningless’ writings were intended as advice for his son.
What does it mean? All these things are true, from a human perspective. It’s easier to understand in the NIV:
“A feast is made for laughter,
and wine makes life merry,
but money is the answer for everything.”
Partying is fun, but money (greed) drives society. It isn’t ‘Money’ that is the root of all evil, but *love* of money. And just as in our present society, so it was then: money can buy you pretty much whatever you want in worldy terms.
Matt
Was going to paste this on Facebook but the thing has a word limit!! >_
Matt
Geez this thing cut my reply!!
Ben
Here’s the reply Matt messaged me wit on Facebook:
Thought I’d like to impart my .3 Cents worth! lol
Cell was good too I thought, lots of fun and constructive discussion.
I was actually quite interested in this – prompted me to get my Bible out and read it, and see what answers I could find on the net myself – although I’m always wary of doing this because its sometimes not straightforward to discern where some of these online authors are coming from (theological slant).
One of the things that stuck out for me was the idea that Ecclesiastes is written by Solomon who attempts to solve the meaning of live “under the sun” (Earthly life) with his OWN earthly wisdom and his OWN earthly knowledge and understanding (as opposed to the help of God) which ultimately lead him to conlcude things that would be considered simple/logical or something you or I would have thought of or observed. This lead me to ask why would this be in the Bible if it appeared to have no Godly input or guidance? I found my answer when a author put it, it is to save us from repeating history. If the one of the wisest and richest men in the Bible couldnt find the answer to the meaning of life on Earth (‘under the sun’) what chance do we have? I think the answer comes right at he end: …Fear Gid abd keep his commandements, for this is the whole duty of man… (Ecc. 12, vv. 13-14)
Dan
Wow that’s a really good answer :)