Vanity of Vanities

My little friends and I are working on a 1000 piece puzzle. It is a lot of fun. My granddaughter informed me when we started, that the first thing you need to do is find all the pieces that have a straight edge and put them together. The first four prize pieces to find are the ones that are the corners. Doing this sets the direction and makes it easier to put together the outside frame of the puzzle. The rest of the work is in scanning pieces for similar colors and structures and fitting pieces together. It takes time and vigilance, but it is a satisfying type of effort when the pieces fit.

The whole activity reminds me of the importance of having the Bible as a top priority to understanding life. Life can be very puzzling without some kind of direction and meaning. The Word of God provides the ultimate picture of life at its fullest.

My habits of reading the word have changed throughout the years. I read the Bible in such a different way than I used to. Instead of reading because it is something that must be done to have knowledge of God, today I read it to find how to handle everything in life. It is a book about life! The framework of the word of God is very important.  There is an over-arching context which needs to be established first, then everything else starts to fit together in that frame.  As each of us experience life and continues to go to God, we fill in the missing pieces as they fit within the frame. The Word of God is personal.

The current political miasma cannot help but effect us and although I have tried to put it beyond arms length,  it still permeates the air. All of it is so ungodly and out of control, I have never seen anything like it this bad. I guess all the wheeling and dealing is so blatant that nobody worries anymore about being caught in a lie, or slandering some one else incessantly.  This attitude is permeating all of society.  A word from Ecclesiastes popped in my mind and I looked it up. It was the word 'vanity'. As I started to read some verses in Ecclesiastes,  my perception of what that book is about suddenly became very real, The knots in my stomach about what is going on disappeared. Just like what the word 'vanity' means in the Hebrew, "poof it is gone!". These things are but vapors and smoke.

As things come up in life, we can find answers that match our questions and fit them in where they belong in our personal big picture. This is incredibly satisfying work! It takes time and persistence in turning our eyes above rather than down, but it is the only way to go. It makes life a lot less puzzling!

8 Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.