tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post5195419253447188503..comments2024-02-25T05:24:24.948-05:00Comments on Beyond Easy: Wisdom & Woe; Light & DarknessPatrick Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02410016566636603639noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-89817297347365691912011-10-29T02:13:23.324-04:002011-10-29T02:13:23.324-04:00Adam: FULL DISCLOSURE: the first time I "read...<b>Adam:</b> FULL DISCLOSURE: the first time I "read" it was in audiobook format during a drive from Boulder, Colorado to New Jersey. Perhaps something similar could work for you?<br /><br />Proud of misery? Hmm. If you're miserable, I wouldn't think the eagle in your soul is soaring very high.<br /><br /><b>Osode:</b> Interesting stuff. Hmm. I need to get around to reading Proverbs at some point.<br /><br />When I was a young Episcopal, I read an illustrated, heavily-abridged <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Childrens-Bible-Old-Testament-New/dp/B000HE8QYG/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1319868196&sr=1-2" rel="nofollow">kid's Bible</a> and got a pretty good idea of the timeline, but not much of the detail or the poetry. I stopped believing at around age thirteen or fourteen, so I've never really got acquainted with "grownups'" version. (I almost wrote "the real text," but that's too careless a term in this case, no?)<br /><br />All I'm trying to say is at some point I'd really like to sit down and read the King James Bible cover to cover.<br /><br />And yeah, the Old Testament is something I want to look into more closely. Being raised as a Christian, my studies of course focused on the New Testament, and it never really occurred to me to look at the Old in its own context.Patrick Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02410016566636603639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-64275910762494233082011-10-20T02:08:42.742-04:002011-10-20T02:08:42.742-04:00There's a bunch more I wanted to point out abo...There's a bunch more I wanted to point out about Ecclesiastes too, but this was already a monstrous post and it's probably more fun if you figure it out yourself.<br /><br />Oh, and sorry for spamming your post with all of this nonsense. I just like the Old Testament a lot and have a tendency to go overboard when I cite it and quote it. It really is fascinating when you become submersed in it, though!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-26209769445159722892011-10-20T02:04:14.380-04:002011-10-20T02:04:14.380-04:00"Remember your Creator in the days of your yo..."Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come/and the years approach when you will say,/'I find no pleasure in them'--<br />before the sun and the light/and the moon and the stars grow dark [1]/and the clouds return after the rain;<br />when the keepers of the house tremble,/and the strong men stoop,<br />when the grinders cease because they are few,/and those looking through the windows grow dim;<br />when the doors to the street are closed/and the sound of grinding fades;<br />when men rise up at the sound of birds,/but all their songs grow faint;<br />when men are afraid of heights/and of dangers in the streets;<br />when the almond tree blossoms/and the grasshopper drags himself along/and desire no longer is stirred.<br />Then man goes to his eternal home [2]/and mourners go about the streets.<br /><br />Remember him--before the silver cord is severed,/or the golden bowl is broken;<br />before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,/or the wheel broken at the well,<br />and the dust returns to the ground it came from,/and the spirit returns to God who gave it.<br /><br />'Meaningless! Meaningless! says the Teacher./Everything is meaningless!'"<br /><br />[1]- HEY HEY LOOK AT THAT!<br />[2]- Not an eternal life, but Sheol--death, "the grave", eternal nonexistance, etc. A positive outlook on the afterlife is only vaguely hinted at throughout the Old Testament and isn't really considered heavily until Jesus rolls around.<br /><br />I know the formatting isn't perfect and is a bit difficult to read, but I couldn't think of a better way to preserve the style. Nearly all of the Old Testament verse is written in couplets, and on the odd occasion, "triplets" (I don't see them as triplets since the second and third verses both build off of the first instead of each carrying their own weight. There's probably a word for this out there some where?). But, at the same time, the couplets and "triplets" are stacked together in a bigger paragraph to express one whole idea.<br /><br />After writing this all out, I noticed you linked to Ecclesiastes, meaning you probably already read it and probably already know the format of Hebrew poetry. Derp! Figure I might as well post it anyways.<br /><br />Oh, and here's an excerpt from how to read Proverbs, just cause a lot of Ecclesiastes is written in the same style. Again, you probably already know this, but it might still be of interest to somebody else out there.<br /><br />"When reading Proverbs, it helps to have a basic understanding of the literary devices used, especially the use of 'parallelism.' Parallelism describes the tendency of Hebrew poetry to repeat a thought in a slightly different way. For example, Proverbs 10:10 uses synonymous parallelism: 'He who winks maliciously causes grief, and a chattering fool comes to ruin.' The second half of this proverb underscores and embellishes the message of the first half.<br /><br />Mostly, however, Proverbs 10 uses antithetical parallelism (contrasting one thought with its opposite), such as in 10:4: 'Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.' The word 'but' often connects two antithetical statements.<br /><br />In both kinds of parallelism, the trick is to compare each phrase with its paired phrase in the other half of the proverb. For instance, in Proverbs 10:4, 'diligent hands' is paired with its opposite, 'lazy hands'; 'bring wealth' is paired with its opposite, 'make a man poor.' Sometimes these comparisons uncover subtle shades of meaning."<br /><br />And there ya go. I don't have much to say about the actual passage from Moby Dick, but I do feel like going back and reading it after reading this through. And, hey, did you ever get around to reading Pierre? It takes the ideals of "all is meaningless" to practically a satirical extreme, as far as I remember. If you haven't yet, I think you'd get a kick out of it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-90242741803207909862011-10-20T02:01:41.197-04:002011-10-20T02:01:41.197-04:00I think you'd like Ecclesiastes if you haven&#...I think you'd like Ecclesiastes if you haven't read it already, Pat. I can only imagine it was written over a longer period of time than a shorter one, simply because it whips between optimism (which often coincides with thinking past the present, mostly through theology) and pessimism (which seems to deal more with wallowing in it). If you do check it out, keep in mind the Hebrews hadn't yet developed a strong sense of the afterlife; they basically saw God working here, now, and that was all.<br /><br />Here's a few sections I'd highlighted on my way through that you might appreciate (from the NIV translation), and keep in mind this was probably written almost a good millennium before Christ was born (or before common era if you'd so prefer):<br /><br />"All man's efforts are for his mouth/yet his appetite is never satisfied."<br /><br />"It is better to heed a wise man's rebuke/than to listen to the song of fools."<br /><br />"The end of a matter is better than its beginning,/and patience is better than pride.<br />Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit,/for anger resides in the lap of fools."<br /><br />"This only I have found:/God made mankind upright,/but men have gone in search of many schemes."<br /><br />"There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: righteous men who get what the wicked deserve, and wicked men who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless. 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 his life God has given him under the sun.<br /><br />When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe man's labor on earth--his eyes not seeing sleep day or night--then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all his efforst to search it out, man cannot discover its meaning. Even if a wise man claims he knows, he cannot really comprehend it."<br /><br />"I have seen something else under the sun:<br /><br />The race is not to the swift/or the battle to the strong<br />Nor does food come to the wise/or wealth to the brilliant/or favor to the learned;<br />but time and chance happen to them all."<br /><br />"Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man. So I said, "Wisdom is better than strength." But the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.<br /><br />The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded/than the shouts of a ruler of fools.<br />Wisdom is better than weapons of war,/but one sinner destroys much good."<br /><br />"As dead flies give perfume a bad smell,/so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor."<br /><br />"Whoever watched the wind will not plant;/whoever looks at the clouds will not reap."<br /><br />"Light is sweet,/and it pleases the eyes to see the sun.<br />However many years a man may live,/let him enjoy them all.<br />But let him remember the days of darkness,/for they will be many./Everything to come is meaningless.<br /><br />Be happy, young man, while you are still young,/and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth.<br />Follow the ways of your heart/and whatever your eyes see,<br />but know that for all these things/God will bring you to judgement.<br />So then, banish anxiety from your heart/and cast off the troubles of your body,/for youth and vigor are meaningless."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8972120889629675714.post-18520266680563080572011-10-18T07:41:26.434-04:002011-10-18T07:41:26.434-04:00Moby Dick sat in my closet for years unread, even ...Moby Dick sat in my closet for years unread, even as I ate up many longer but lighter works. I've lost what little patience I had when I could have become literate, hopefully I still have time. I read your excerpt and regretted not being able to give it the contemplation it deserves in context. Thanks for the opportunity, in any case.<br /><br />The bolded section makes me feel like I should be proud of misery, and I don't think I need any more pride.Adamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12698007221193857147noreply@blogger.com